Increasing fracture aperture by lowering effective normal stress and by inducing dilatant shearing and thermo-elastic effects is essential for transmissivity increase in enhanced geothermal systems. ...This study investigates transmissivity evolution for fluid flow through natural fractures in granodiorite at the laboratory scale. Processes that influence transmissivity are changing normal loads, surface deformation, the formation of gouge and fracture offset. Normal loads were varied in cycles between 1 and 68 MPa and cause transmissivity changes of up to three orders of magnitude. Similarly, small offsets of fracture surfaces of the order of millimeters induced changes in transmissivity of up to three orders of magnitude. During normal load cycling, the fractures experienced significant surface deformation, which did not lead to increased matedness for most experiments, especially for offset fractures. The resulting gouge material production may have caused clogging of the main fluid flow channels with progressing loading cycles, resulting in reductions of transmissivity by up to one order of magnitude. During one load cycle, from low to high normal loads, the majority of tests show hysteretic behavior of the transmissivity. This effect is stronger for early load cycles, most likely when surface deformation occurs, and becomes less pronounced in later cycles when asperities with low asperity strength failed. The influence of repeated load cycling on surface deformation is investigated by scanning the specimen surfaces before and after testing. This allows one to study asperity height distribution and surface deformation by evaluating the changes of the standard deviation of the height, distribution of asperities and matedness of the fractures. Surface roughness, as expressed by the standard deviation of the asperity height distribution, increased during testing. Specimen surfaces that were tested in a mated configuration were better mated after testing, than specimens tested in shear offset configuration. The fracture surface deformation of specimen surfaces that were tested in an offset configuration was dominated by the breaking of individual asperities and grains, which did not result in better mated surfaces.
We evaluate the capability of three different digital image correlation (DIC) algorithms to measure long-term surface displacement caused by a large slope instability in the Swiss Alps. DIC was ...applied to high-resolution optical imagery taken by airborne sensors, and the accuracy of the displacements assessed against global navigation satellite system measurements. A dynamic radiometric correction of the input images prior to DIC application was shown to enhance both the correlation success and accuracy. Moreover, a newly developed spatial filter considering the displacement direction and magnitude proved to be an effective tool to enhance DIC performance and accuracy. Our results show that all algorithms are capable of quantifying slope instability displacements, with average errors ranging from 8 to 12% of the observed maximum displacement, depending on the DIC processing parameters, and the pre- and postprocessing of the in- and output. Among the tested approaches, the results based on a fast Fourier transform correlation approach provide a considerably better spatial coverage of the displacement field of the slope instability. The findings of this study are relevant for slope instability detection and monitoring via DIC, especially in the context of an ever-increasing availability of high-resolution air- and spaceborne imagery.
The destabilization and catastrophic failure of landslides triggered by retreating glaciers is an expected outcome of global climate change and poses a significant threat to inhabitants of glaciated ...mountain valleys around the globe. Of particular importance are the formation of landslide‐dammed lakes, outburst floods, and related sediment entrainment. Based on field observations and remote sensing of a deep‐seated landslide, located at the present‐day terminus of the Great Aletsch Glacier, we show that the spatiotemporal response of the landslide to glacier retreat is rapid, occurring within a decade. Our observations uniquely capture the critical period of increase in slope deformations, onset of failure, and show that measured displacements at the crown and toe regions of the landslide demonstrate a feedback mechanism between glacier ice reduction and response of the entire landslide body. These observations shed new light on the geomorphological processes of landslide response in paraglacial environments, which were previously understood to occur over significantly longer time periods.
Plain Language Summary
Climate change affects glaciated areas worldwide. Hazards associated with catastrophic landslides in recently de‐glaciated valleys increasingly affect human society and critical infrastructure. Our study provides new insights in the interaction between deglaciation and rock slope response and is important for both scientific and practical reasons. We show that critically unstable slopes are sensitive to glacier ice loss, the slope response is significantly faster than previously reported, and landslide response brought on by rapid deglaciation may be enhanced as a result of climate change.
Key Points
Critically stressed slopes are highly sensitive to glacier ice volume loss
Landslide response is rapid upon reaching a threshold of glacier ice loss
Rapid deglaciation due to climate warming may enhance occurrence of slope destabilization
Landslide run-out modeling involves various uncertainties originating from model input data. It is therefore desirable to assess the model’s sensitivity to these uncertain inputs. A global ...sensitivity analysis that is capable of exploring the entire input space and accounts for all interactions often remains limited due to computational challenges resulting from a large number of necessary model runs. We address this research gap by integrating Gaussian process emulation into landslide run-out modeling and apply it to the open-source simulation tool r.avaflow. The feasibility and efficiency of our approach is illustrated based on the 2017 Bondo landslide event. The sensitivity of aggregated model outputs, such as the angle of reach, impact area, and spatially resolved maximum flow height and velocity, to the dry-Coulomb friction coefficient, turbulent friction coefficient, and the release volume is studied. The results of first-order effects are consistent with previous results of common one-at-a-time sensitivity analyses. In addition to that, our approach allows us to rigorously investigate interactions. Strong interactions are detected on the margins of the flow path where the expectation and variation of maximum flow height and velocity are small. The interactions generally become weak with an increasing variation of maximum flow height and velocity. Besides, there are stronger interactions between the two friction coefficients than between the release volume and each friction coefficient. In the future, it is promising to extend the approach for other computationally expensive tasks like uncertainty quantification, model calibration, and smart early warning.
This article presents the stresses at the center of a Brazilian disk (BD) for transversely isotropic rocks. It is shown that the solution of stresses at the center of an anisotropic disk is a ...function of the disk radius and the magnitude of applied load, as well as the material orientation with respect to the load axis and two dimensionless ratios with specific physical meanings and limitations. These two dimensionless parameters are the ratios of Young’s modulus and apparent shear modulus, although the ratio of apparent shear modulus will be eliminated if the Saint-Venant assumption is considered. Considerable finite element simulations are carried out to find the stresses at the disk center concerning the material orientation and the two dimensionless parameters. Also, an approximate formula obtained from analytical results, previously proposed in the literature for solving the tensile and compressive stresses at the disk center, is re-written and simplified based on these new definitions. The results of the approximate formula fitted to the analytical results are compared to those obtained from numerical solutions, suggesting a good agreement between the numerical and analytical methods. An approximate equation for the shear stress at the disk center is also formulated based on the numerical results. Finally, the influence of the assumptions for simplification of the proposed formula for the tensile, compressive, and shear stresses at the disk center is discussed, and simple and practical equations are proposed as estimations for the stresses at the center of the BD specimen for low to moderate anisotropic rocks. For highly anisotropic rocks, the reference plots can be used for more accuracy.
Temporal changes in groundwater chemistry can reveal information about the evolution of flow path connectivity during crustal deformation. Here, we report transient helium and argon concentration ...anomalies monitored during a series of hydraulic reservoir stimulation experiments measured with an in situ gas equilibrium membrane inlet mass spectrometer. Geodetic and seismic analyses revealed that the applied stimulation treatments led to the formation of new fractures (hydraulic fracturing) and the reactivation of natural fractures (hydraulic shearing), both of which remobilized (He, Ar)-enriched fluids trapped in the rock mass. Our results demonstrate that integrating geochemical information with geodetic and seismic data provides critical insights to understanding dynamic changes in fracture network connectivity during reservoir stimulation. The results of this study also shed light on the linkages between fluid migration, rock deformation and seismicity at the decameter scale.
We used synthetic aperture radar offset tracking to reconstruct a unique record of ice surface velocities for a 3.2 year period (15 January 2017–6 April 2020), for the Palcaraju glacier located above ...Laguna Palcacocha, Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Correlation and spatial cluster analysis of residuals of linear fits through cumulative velocity time series, revealed that velocity variations were controlled by the intra-annual outer tropical seasonality and inter-annual variation in Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies (SSTA), related to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The seasonal signal was dominant, where it was sensitive to altitude, aspect, and slope. The measured velocity variations are related to the spatial and temporal variability of the glacier’s surface energy and mass balance, meltwater production, and subglacial water pressures. Evaluation of potential ice avalanche initiation areas, using deviations from linear long-term velocity trends, which were not related to intra- or inter-annual velocities, showed no evidence of imminent avalanching ice instabilities for the observation period.
The entire water cycle is contaminated with largely undetected micropollutants, thus jeopardizing wastewater treatment. Currently, monitoring methods that are used by wastewater treatment plants ...(WWTP) are not able to detect these micropollutants, causing negative effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health. In our case study, we took collective samples around different treatment stages (aeration tank, membrane bioreactor, ozonation) of a WWTP and analyzed them via Deep-UV laser-induced Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy (LIRFS) in combination with a CNN-based AI support. This process allowed us to perform the spectra recognition of selected micropollutants and thus analyze their reliability. The results indicated that the combination of sensitive fluorescence measurements with very specific Raman measurements, supplemented with an artificial intelligence, lead to a high information gain for utilizing it as a monitoring purpose. Laser-induced Raman spectroscopy reaches detections limits of alert pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, naproxen, tryptophan) in the range of a few µg/L; naproxen is detectable down to 1 × 10−4 mg/g. Furthermore, the monitoring of nitrate after biological treatment using Raman measurements and AI support showed a reliable assignment rate of over 95%. Applying the fluorescence technique seems to be a promising method in observing DOC changes in wastewater, leading to a correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.74 for all samples throughout the purification processes. The results also showed the influence of different extraction points in a cleaning stage; therefore, it would not be sensible to investigate them separately. Nevertheless, the interpretation suffers when many substances interact with one another and influence their optical behavior. In conclusion, the results that are presented in our paper elucidate the use of LIRFS in combination with AI support for online monitoring.
The stress state in a rock mass is complex. Stress redistribution around underground excavation may lead to various failure modes, including compressive-shear, tensile-shear, and tensile failures. ...The ability to perform laboratory tests with these complex stress states is significant for establishing new strength criteria. The present paper introduces a new rock testing system with “tensile-compressive-shear” loading functions. The device includes bi-directional and double-range hydraulic cylinders, auxiliary loading equipment, and roller rows that can perform direct compressive-shear tests, direct tensile tests, and direct tensile-shear tests. The testing system provides maximum vertical and lateral loading forces of 2000 kN and allows testing cubical rock specimens with dimensions of 0.5 m × 0.5 m × 0.5 m. The performance of the testing machine was evaluated by testing a rock-like material based on cement mortar under compressive-shear, tensile, and tensile-shear stress states. The failure process and deformation characteristics were monitored during loading using acoustic emission (AE) transient recorder, piezoelectric AE sensors, a high-speed camera, and a thermal infrared camera. The failure mechanism was investigated by analyzing AE counts, AE amplitude, strain, and temperature changes on the rock specimen surface. The test results confirmed that the testing system could successfully simulate the abovementioned stress path. The AE counts and amplitude responses were influenced by different failure modes. The temperature response during the compressive-shear test indicated the development of a high-temperature band on the rock specimen surface. In contrast, a negligible temperature change was observed during the tensile and tensile-shear tests. The newly developed multifunctional rock testing system allows laboratory tests under various failure modes. The monitoring results of multiple variables during rock failure tests provide valuable information on failure characteristics.
•Develop a novel rock testing system with tensile-compressive-shear loading function.•Investigate the failure behavior of rock-like specimens under different stress states.•Analyze the various attributes response characteristics in different failure modes.
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