scholarly journals Hydraulics of subglacial outburst floods: new insights from the Spring–Hutter formulation

2003 ◽  
Vol 49 (165) ◽  
pp. 299-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garry K. C. Clarke

AbstractUsing a slightly modified form of the Spring–Hutter equations, glacial outburst floods are simulated from three classic sites, “Hazard Lake”, Yukon, Canada, Summit Lake, British Columbia, Canada, and Grímsvötn, Iceland, in order to calibrate the hydraulic roughness associated with subglacial conduits. Previous work has suggested that the Manning roughness of the conduits is remarkably high, but the new calibration yields substantially lower values that are representative of those for natural streams and rivers. The discrepancy can be traced to a poor assumption about the effectiveness of heat transfer at the conduit walls. The simulations reveal behaviour that cannot be inferred from simplified theories: (1) During flood onset, water pressure over much of the conduit can exceed the confining pressure of surrounding ice. (2) Local values of fluid potential gradient can differ substantially from the value averaged over the length of the conduit, contradicting an assumption of simple theories. (3) As the flood progresses, the location of flow constrictions that effectively control the flood magnitude can jump rapidly over large distances. (4) Predicted water temperature at the conduit outlet exceeds that suggested by measurements of exit water temperature.

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 755
Author(s):  
Lei Sun

The effect of variable confining pressure (VCP) on the cyclic deformation and cyclic pore water pressure in K0-consolidated saturated soft marine clay were investigated with the help of the cyclic stress-controlled advanced dynamic triaxial test in undrained condition. The testing program encompassed three cyclic deviator stress ratios, CSR=0.189, 0.284 and 0.379 and three stress path inclinations ηampl=3,1 and 0.64. All tests with constant confining pressure (CCP) and variable confining pressure (VCP) have identical initial stress and average stress. The results were analyzed in terms of the accumulative normalized excess pore water pressure rqu recorded at the end of each stress cycle and permanent axial strain, as well as resilient modulus. Limited data suggest that these behavior are significantly affected by both of the VCP and CSR. For a given value of VCP, both of the pore water pressure rqu and permanent axial strains are consistently increase with the increasing values of CSR. However, for a given value of CSR, the extent of the influence of VCP and the trend is substantially depend on the CSR.


2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 888-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Marciniak ◽  
Anna Szczucińska

The aim of this paper is to study diurnal fluctuations of the water level in streams draining headwaters and to identify the controlling factors. The fieldwork was carried out in the Gryżynka River catchment, western Poland. The water levels of three streams draining into the headwaters via a group of springs were monitored in the years 2011–2014. Changes in the water pressure and water temperature were recorded by automatic sensors – Schlumberger MiniDiver type. Simultaneously, Barodiver type sensors were used to record air temperature and atmospheric pressure, as it was necessary to adjust the data collected by the MiniDivers calculate the water level. The results showed that diurnal fluctuations in water level of the streams ranged from 2 to 4 cm (approximately 10% of total water depth) and were well correlated with the changes in evapotranspiration as well as air temperature. The observed water level fluctuations likely have resulted from processes occurring in the headwaters. Good correlation with atmospheric conditions indicates control by daily variations of the local climate. However, the relationship with water temperature suggests that fluctuations are also caused by changes in the temperature-dependent water viscosity and, consequently, by diurnal changes in the hydraulic conductivity of the hyporheic zone.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Qizhi Hu ◽  
Qiang Zou ◽  
Zhigang Ding ◽  
Zhaodong Xu

The excavation unloading of deep foundation pits in soft soil areas often produces negative excess pore water pressure. The rebound deformation of soil on the excavation surface of the foundation pit can be predicted reliably through the accurate expression of relevant variation laws. In combination with the principle of effective stress and the general equation of unidirectional seepage consolidation, an equation for calculating the rebound deformation from the bottom in the process of foundation pit excavation unloading was obtained. Additionally, a triaxial unloading test was adopted to simulate the excavation unloading processes for actual foundation pit engineering. After studying the variation law of the excess pore water pressure generated by excavation unloading, it was found that the negative excess pore water pressure increased with increasing unloading rate, while the corresponding peak value decreased with increasing confining pressure. The equation for rebound calculation was verified through a comparison with relevant measured data from actual engineering. Therefore, it is considered that the equation can reliably describe the rebound deformation law of the base. This paper aims to guide the design and construction of deep foundation pits in soft soil areas.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Zhou ◽  
Shenyang Ouyang ◽  
Qiangqiang Cheng ◽  
Feng Ju

Backfilling mining method is an overlying strata control way, which is widely used in underground coal mine. This method is effective in preventing and controlling geological disasters such as surface subsidence, mine water inrush, rock burst, and other disasters. Cement-treated marine clay (CMC) is a typical porous media, which has abundant reserves and can be used as a new backfilling material. Therefore, the mechanical characteristics of CMC are very important for overlying strata control in coal mine. To investigate stress-strain behavior of CMC, isotropic consolidated drained (CID) triaxial test and isotropic compression test (ICT) were conducted with different confining pressures in the range of 50–800 kPa. Stress-strain behavior was found similar to those of the overconsolidated stress-strain behavior as well as the pore water pressure versus strain. Stress versus strain curves under lower confining pressure 50–250 kPa presented shear dilatancy. The result shows that the peak strength increased linearly with increasing confining pressure. The internal friction angle and cohesion are 48° and 590 kPa, respectively. Before the confining pressure reaches 727 kPa, which is the primary yielding point, the secant modulus E1 (the secant modulus at 1% axial strain) and the secant modulus E50 (corresponding to the 50% of the peak point) increase initially and decrease afterwards with the increasing of confining pressure. Afterwards, the two parameters increased with increasing confining pressure. The yielding stress occurred in the stage, generating a dramatic decrease in tangent modulus. This study can be a theoretical basis for engineering application of this new backfilling material.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 735-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léo Decaux ◽  
Mariusz Grabiec ◽  
Dariusz Ignatiuk ◽  
Jacek Jania

Abstract. As the behavior of subglacial water plays a determining role in glacier dynamics, it requires particular attention, especially in the context of climate warming, which is increasing ablation and generating greater amounts of meltwater. On many glaciers, water flowing from the glacier's surface is the main source of supply to the subglacial drainage system. This system is largely influenced by the supraglacial drainage system, which collects meltwater and precipitation and rapidly delivers it to discrete points in the glacier bed via moulins and crevassed areas, called water input areas (WIAs). Models of patterns of subglacial conduits mainly based on the hydrological potential gradient are still regularly performed without taking into account the supraglacial drainage system. We modeled the pattern of subglacial channels in two glaciers located in Svalbard, the land-terminating Werenskioldbreen and the tidewater Hansbreen during the 2015 melt season. We modeled a spatial and a discrete water recharge in order to compare them. First, supraglacial catchments were determined for each WIA on a high-resolution digital elevation model using the standard watershed modeling tool in ArcGIS. Then, interpolated water runoff was calculated for all the main WIAs. Our model also accounts for several water pressure conditions. For our two studied glaciers, during the ablation season 2015, 72.5 % of total runoff was provided by meltwater and 27.5 % by precipitation. Changes in supraglacial drainage on a decadal timescale are observed in contrast to its nearly stable state on an annual timescale. Nevertheless, due to the specific nature of those changes, it seems to have a low impact on the subglacial system. Therefore, our models of subglacial channel are assumed to be valid for a minimum period of two decades and depend on changes in the supraglacial drainage system. Results showed that, for Svalbard tidewater glaciers with large crevassed areas, models of subglacial channels that assume spatial water recharge may be somewhat imprecise but are far from being completely incorrect, especially for the ablation zone. On the other hand, it is important to take discrete water recharge into account in the case of land-terminating Svalbard glaciers with limited crevassed areas. In all cases, considering a discrete water recharge when modeling patterns of theoretical subglacial channels seems to produce more realistic results according to current knowledge.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Jifeng Hou ◽  
Zhongping Guo ◽  
Weizhen Liu ◽  
Hengze Yang ◽  
WenWu Xie

Aiming at the backfill with prefabricated fracture under seepage-stress coupling, the concepts of fracture macrodamage, loaded mesodamage, seepage mesodamage, and total damage of backfill were proposed. Based on the macroscopic statistical damage model, the coupling effect of seepage, stress, and initial fracture was considered comprehensively and the damage model of backfill with prefabricated fracture under seepage-stress coupling was established. The mechanical properties of backfill with prefabricated fracture under different seepage water pressures and confining pressures were tested and the rationality of the model was verified. The research shows that the mechanical properties of backfill with prefabricated fracture under the seepage-stress coupling are determined by the seepage water pressure, the load, the initial fracture, and the coupling effect. Fracture and seepage have significant effects on the damage of the backfill. When the seepage water pressure is low, the fracture damage dominates; however, when the seepage water pressure is high, the seepage damage dominates; the total damage under the coupling action is more serious than the single factor. The development laws of the total damage evolution curves under different seepage water pressures and confining pressures are basically the same, and they show the S-shaped distribution law with the increase of the axial strain. With the increase of confining pressure, the damage effect of fracture and seepage on the backfill is weakened, indicating that the confining pressure has a certain inhibitory effect on the damage evolution of the backfill. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for the study of the stability of backfill with geological defects such as joints and fractures in deep high-stress and high-seepage water pressure coal mines.


2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (239) ◽  
pp. 423-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
KENNETH D. MANKOFF ◽  
JASON D. GULLEY ◽  
SLAWEK M. TULACZYK ◽  
MATTHEW D. COVINGTON ◽  
XIAOFENG LIU ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTHydraulic roughness exerts an important but poorly understood control on water pressure in subglacial conduits. Where relative roughness values are <5%, hydraulic roughness can be related to relative roughness using empirically-derived equations such as the Colebrook–White equation. General relationships between hydraulic roughness and relative roughness do not exist for relative roughness >5%. Here we report the first quantitative assessment of roughness heights and hydraulic diameters in a subglacial conduit. We measured roughness heights in a 125 m long section of a subglacial conduit using structure-from-motion to produce a digital surface model, and hand-measurements of theb-axis of rocks. We found roughness heights from 0.07 to 0.22 m and cross-sectional areas of 1–2 m2, resulting in relative roughness of 3–12% and >5% for most locations. A simple geometric model of varying conduit diameter shows that when the conduit is small relative roughness is >30% and has large variability. Our results suggest that parameterizations of conduit hydraulic roughness in subglacial hydrological models will remain challenging until hydraulic diameters exceed roughness heights by a factor of 20, or the conduit radius is >1 m for the roughness elements observed here.


2012 ◽  
Vol 702 ◽  
pp. 126-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schoof ◽  
Ian J. Hewitt ◽  
Mauro A. Werder

AbstractWe present a continuum model for melt water drainage through a spatially distributed system of connected subglacial cavities, and consider in this context the complications introduced when effective pressure or water pressure drops to zero. Instead of unphysically allowing water pressure to become negative, we model the formation of a partially vapour- or air-filled space between ice and bed. Likewise, instead of allowing sustained negative effective pressures, we allow ice to separate from the bed at zero effective pressure. The resulting model is a free boundary problem in which an elliptic obstacle problem determines hydraulic potential, and therefore also determines regions of zero effective pressure and zero water pressure. This is coupled with a transport problem for stored water, and the coupled system bears some similarities with Hele-Shaw and squeeze-film models. We present a numerical method for computing time-dependent solutions, and find close agreement with semi-analytical travelling wave and steady-state solutions. As may be expected, we find that ice–bed separation is favoured by high fluxes and low ice surface slopes and low bed slopes, while partially filled cavities are favoured by low fluxes and high slopes. At the boundaries of regions with zero water or effective pressure, discontinuities in water level are frequently present, either in the form of propagating shocks or as stationary hydraulic jumps accompanied by discontinuities in potential gradient.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy J. Jenson ◽  
Jason M. Amundson ◽  
Jonathan Kingslake ◽  
Eran Hood

Abstract. We combine a glacier outburst flood model with a glacier flow model to investigate decadal to centennial variations in outburst floods originating from ice-dammed marginal basins. Marginal basins form due to retreat and detachment of tributary glaciers, a process that often results in remnant ice being left behind. The remnant ice, which can act like an ice shelf or break apart into a pack of icebergs, limits the basin storage capacity but also exerts pressure on the underlying water and promotes drainage. We find that during glacier retreat there is a strong, nearly linear relationship between flood water volume and peak discharge for individual basins, despite large changes in glacier and remnant ice volumes that are expected to impact flood hydrographs. Consequently, peak discharge increases over time as long as there is remnant ice remaining in a basin, the peak discharge begins to decrease once a basin becomes ice free, and similar size outburst floods can occur for very different glacier volumes. We also find that the temporal variability in outburst flood magnitude depends on how the floods initiate. Basins that connect to the subglacial hydrological system only after reaching flotation yield greater long-term variability in outburst floods than basins that are continuously connected to the subglacial hydrological system (and therefore release floods that initiate before reaching flotation). Our results highlight the importance of improving our understanding of both changes in basin geometry and outburst flood initiation mechanisms in order to better assess outburst flood hazards and impacts on landscape and ecosystem evolution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jianning Wang ◽  
Weitao Liu ◽  
Jianjun Shen

To study the fracture characteristics and the permeability change law of the cracked specimens during the complete stress-strain process, a mechanical model was constructed, from which different types of crack initiation angles were obtained. The crack inclination angles under uniaxial compression, confining compression, and confining tension, and the influence of confining pressure and pore water pressure on the crack propagation and permeability of rock mass were investigated and simulated with RFPA-Flow software using prefabricated crack models with crack initiation angles of 30°, 45°, and 60°. Furthermore, the formation mechanism of inrush channel from floor was qualitatively analyzed. The results indicated that the theoretical initiation angles of wing cracks, secondary coplanar cracks, and secondary inclined antiwing cracks were found to be 70.53°, 0°, and 123.8°, which were consistent with the simulation results. The crack propagation was mainly concentrated at the postpeak stage of the complete stress-strain curve, causing the peak of seepage velocity to lag behind the stress peak. For the case with a constant confining pressure, the rate of crack initiation and propagation to final failure was positively correlated with the internal pore pressure. For the case with a constant water pressure, the speed of crack initiation and propagation to final failure decreased first and then increased as the confining pressure increased. In addition, the longitudinal propagation of wing cracks and the increase in permeability were prone to occur in the low confining pressure zone, which induced the formation of water inrush channels. The research result provides an improved understanding for predicting and preventing water inrush disasters.


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