Distribution of active rock uplift along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Inferences from bedrock channel longitudinal profiles

Current models of long-term river incision into bedrock suggest that the local rate of differential rock uplift should exert a primary control on the gradient of channel longitudinal profiles. However, discrimination of this effect from the influence of variations in substrate erodibility, sediment flux, precipitation, and transient changes in profile shape has proved difficult in practice. Here we investigate the controls on the spatial distribution of bedrock channel gradients adjacent to the Sichuan Basin in an effort to assess the degree and nature of active deformation along this margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Analysis of river longitudinal profiles utilizing a channel steepness index (a measure of profile gradient normalized for drainage area) reveals a zone of anomalously steep channels adjacent to the topographic front of the plateau margin. Channel profiles are systematically less steep in their headwater reaches on the plateau and in their lower reaches east of the plateau margin. Comparison of steepness indices to mapped lithologic variations reveals that lithology has only a limited influence on channel gradient in this field area. We observe no systematic relationship between steepness indices and upstream drainage area; channels of all size are steeper near the plateau margin. We argue that these systematic changes are not readily explained as a consequence of increased sediment flux or of orographic precipitation. We are led to conclude that steep channel profiles along the topographic front of the plateau reflect active differential rock uplift between this region and the foreland

Lattice-Boltzmann Method for Geophysical Plastic Flows

We explore possible applications of the Lattice-Boltzmann Method for the simulation of geophysical flows. This fluid solver, while successful in other fields, is still rarely used for geotechnical applications. We show how the standard method can be modified to represent free-surface realization of mudflows, debris flows, and in general any plastic flow, through the implementation of a Bingham constitutive model. The chapter is completed by an example of a full-scale simulation of a plastic fluid flowing down an inclined channel and depositing on a flat surface. An application is given, where the fluid interacts with a vertical obstacle in the channel.Comment: in W. Wu, R.I. Borja (Edts.) Recent advances in modelling landslides and debris flow, Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering (2014), ISBN 978-3-319-11052-3, pp. 131-14

Late Cenozoic evolution of the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: Inferences from 40Ar/39Ar and (U-th)/He thermochronology

High topography in central Asia is perhaps the most fundamental expression of the Cenozoic Indo-Asian collision, yet an understanding of the timing and rates of development of the Tibetan Plateau remains elusive. Here we investigate the Cenozoic thermal histories of rocks along the eastern margin of the plateau adjacent to the Sichuan Basin in an effort to determine when the steep topographic escarpment that characterizes this margin developed. Temperature-time paths inferred from 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of biotite, multiple diffusion domain modeling of alkali feldspar40Ar release spectra, and (U-Th)/He thermochronology of zircon and apatite imply that rocks at the present-day topographic front of the plateau underwent slow cooling (<1°C/m.y.) from Jurassic times until the late Miocene or early Pliocene. The regional extent and consistency of thermal histories during this time period suggest the presence of a stable thermal structure and imply that regional denudation rates were low (<0.1 mm/yr for nominal continental geotherms). Beginning in the late Miocene or early Pliocene, these samples experienced a pronounced cooling event (>30°-50°C/m.y.) coincident with exhumation from inferred depths of ~8-10 km, at denudation rates of 1-2 mm/yr. Samples from the interior of the plateau continued to cool relatively slowly during the same time period (~3°C/m.y.), suggesting limited exhumation (1-2 km). However, these samples record a slight increase in cooling rate (from <1 to ~3°C/m.y.) at some time during the middle Tertiary; the tectonic significance of this change remains uncertain. Regardless, late Cenozoic denudation in this region appears to have been markedly heterogeneous, with the highest rates of exhumation focused at the topographic front of the plateau margin. We infer that the onset of rapid cooling at the plateau margin reflects the erosional response to the development of regionally significant topographic gradients between the plateau and the stable Sichuan Basin and thus marks the onset of deformation related to the development of the Tibetan Plateau in this region. The present margin of the plateau adjacent to and north of the Sichuan Basin is apparently no older than the late Miocene or early Pliocene (~5-12 Ma)

Measurement of Cosmic-ray Muon-induced Spallation Neutrons in the Aberdeen Tunnel Underground Laboratory

AbstractMuon-induced neutrons are one of the major backgrounds to various underground experiments, such as dark matter searches, low-energy neutrino oscillation experiments and neutrino-less double beta-decay experiments. Previous experiments on the underground production rate of muon-induced neutrons were mostly carried out either at shallow sites or at very deep sites. The Aberdeen Tunnel experiment aims to measure the neutron production rate at a moderate depth of 611 meters water equivalent. Our apparatus comprises of six layers of plastic-scintillator hodoscopes for tracking the incident cosmic-ray muons, and 760 L of gadolinium-doped liquid-scintillator for both neutron production and detection targets. In this paper, we describe the design and the performance of the apparatus. The preliminary result on the measurement of neutron production rate is also presented

Surface study of ladderlike polyepoxysiloxanes

10.1002/(SICI)1099-0488(20000101)38:13.0.CO;2-YJournal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics381138-147JPBP

Morphological instability of iron-rich precipitates in Cu Fe Co alloys

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Morphological instability of iron-rich precipitates in Cu Fe Co alloys

International audienceThe mechanical properties of metallic materials are determined by their microstructure, and in particular, the different morphologies of precipitates lead to distinct strengthening effects. Usually, the shape of precipitates changes during growth and coarsening regimes, leading to modification of the macroscopic properties of the materials. Thus, understanding of this phenomenon is key to tailoring the precipitate strengthening of industrial alloys. In this article, a general approach to explain the shape instability of iron-rich nanoparticles in Cu-Fe-Co alloys during casting and ageing processes is proposed. The evolution of particle shape from sphere to cuboid to petal and finally splitting into eight sub-nanoparticles is observed using transmission electron microscopy. Phase-field modelling and thermodynamic calculations are combined into a general model that describes and elucidates the morphological evolution of precipitates in alloys in terms of particle size, interfacial and elastic strain energy, and chemical driving force. These findings have the potential to promote new microstructural design approaches for a wide range of materials