Rock Pit Research Articles

Rosin reinforcement and protection of the unearthed outer coffin from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Hubei, China

The tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng was unearthed in 1978 at Leiguudun in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, China. This is the largest wooden coffin in rock pit and vertical cave in the Warring States period in China. The large wooden coffin components provide reliable material data for the study of the feudal burial system in the pre-Qin period and have high value. In this paper, the wooden coffin excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng was studied. By understanding the composition of wood, studying the weight gain rate, shrinkage rate, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and compression resistance, the wood reinforced by rosin and epoxy resin was compared, and the reinforcement effect and principle of the two reinforcement methods were discussed. The study found that the wood properties of rosin reinforced group were better than those of epoxy reinforced group in the aspects of compressive strength, weight gain rate and volume shrinkage rate, and the mechanical properties of wood were significantly improved. In addition, methanol or ethanol can be used to dissolve the rosin shellac in this strengthening process, which can achieve reversible strengthening treatment. The results provide valuable examples and research ideas for the selection of different conservation techniques of large wooden cultural relics unearthed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the Warring States Period.

Flood Control of Ulupinar Stream (Kemer/Antalya) and Evaluation of Geological Data

Antalya province, the study area, is located in the south of Türkiye, and it is one of the regions where flood disasters frequently occur, particularly due to excessive precipitation in the autumn and winter months. Therefore, it is extremely important to carry out the necessary engineering studies. Deluges and floods damage buildings, agricultural and residential areas, human life, and social and economic activities in the vicinity according to their flow rate. The study aims to evaluate the general geological structure of the region considering the reclamation of Ulupinar Stream in the Kemer district of Antalya, to determine a rock pit where resistant and impermeable rock material can be obtained to use in the construction of the masonry stone wall during the reclamation work, and also offer a reference study for future studies. The geological structure of the region was interpreted by using the general geological maps and studies conducted in the study area. The general geological map of the study area was edited and a generalized stratigraphic section was generated using geographical information system (GIS) methods and software. According to the results of the assessment of the studies and geological data on the flood control of Ulupinar Stream, which is one of the regions posing flood risk, the region was found to be a susceptible environment for flood considering the determining criteria such as the location of the basin and the average rainfall, and the reclamation of the stream has been suggested as part of the flood prevention plan. A rock pit where rock material can be obtained for constructing the masonry stone wall has been found 11 km from the region. The material in the rock pit is at a shallow depth and suitable for mining. All scientific studies related to the rock material and the rock pit determined in the study should be carried out before using the rock.

Friction factor correlation for airflow through broken rocks and its applications in mine ventilation

The Atkinson equation along with its friction factor is commonly used to estimate pressure requirement in mine ventilation. However, friction factor correlation of flow through broken rock, typically found in blasted stope, gob, rock pit or block caving rock deposits, etc., is currently unavailable. Also, it is impractical to conduct direct measurements of flow resistance in an inaccessible broken rock zone. This paper aims to develop a new friction factor correlation of flow through broken rock that can be used directly in Atkinson equation. The proposed correlation is valid for broken rocks with diameter between 0.04 and 1.2 m and porosity ranging from 0.23 to 0.7.

Numerical Thermal Back-calculation of the Kerava Solar Village Underground Thermal Energy Storage

With increasing pressure to reduce the fraction of energy coming from fossil fuels, there is an increased need for research into feasible and sustainable energy sources, such as solar energy. The problem with solar energy is the mismatch between supply and demand, and so the energy needs to be stored. This research paper is a part of the project titled “Tackling the Challenges of a Solar-Community Concept in High Latitudes”, and aims in helping to design a thermal energy storage system for southern Finland that is economically feasible and has a high performance. For this purpose, a back-calculation of the underground thermal energy storage (UTES) of the Kerava Solar Village was performed. The primary objective was to calibrate the numerical models to be used in an optimisation by quantifying the thermal properties of the surrounding granite and soil. The UTES of the Kerava Solar Village consisted of a rock pit filled with water and two surrounding rings of boreholes. COMSOL Multiphysics 5.2® was used to create a model in which the temperature of the rock pit was used as the heat source and the heat propagation through the surrounding rock as the output to which the measured data was compared. The best replication of the temperature inside the rock near the surface was achieved with a conductivity of 2.8 and 1.0W/(m·K) for granite and soil respectively. When looking at the deeper sections, the best fit was obtained for a conductivity of 5.5 and 1.0W/(m·K) for granite and soil respectively. These results are conflicting, and outside the realistic range for granite. The strange behaviour of the measured isotherms could be explained by a presence of an additional heat source in the ground originating from a leakage of hot water from the tank into surrounding rocks. The critical issue identified in this study was the lack of data. All the parameters of the system, such as the geology, hydrology, and detailed technical drawings, but also the temperature distribution inside the heat source, and heat storage medium need to be known for back-calculation study to be successful.

Exploration of a haloarchaeon, Halostagnicola larsenii, isolated from rock pit sea water, West Coast of Maharashtra, India, for the production of bacteriorhodopsin.

The aim of the present investigation was to isolate haloarchaea from rock pit sea water, West Coast of India and to explore their potential in the production of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) which converts light energy into electrical energy. Haloarchaeal strains were isolated from rock pit sea water samples collected from Rock garden, Malvan, West Coast of India. Based on morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, all the 11 strains were identified as Halostagnicola larsenii. All the strains require at least 1·5moll(-1) NaCl for growth; grow optimally in the range of 3·5-5·2moll(-1) NaCl. BR was detected in all the strains ranging from 0·035 to 0·258gl(-1) . All 11 strains showed conversion of light energy into electrical energy in the range of 0·7-44·2mV, when exposed to sunlight. A haloarchaeon, Hst.larsenii is isolated from rock pit sea water and demonstrated to have BR that converted light energy into electrical energy. The present investigation is presumably the first report of the isolation of Hst.larsenii from low salinity environment and its potential in production of BR. The haloarchaeon could be explored for the generation of electrical energy.

The tomb of the Spring-and-Autumn Period at Jiwang Gu in Yishui County, Shandong

AbstractThe tomb of the Spring-and-Autumn Period at Jiwang Gu (Jiwang Mesa) is a stone shaft pit tomb with wooden chamber cut out of the rock on the top of the mesa; it consists of the grave, the passageway and the chariot-and- horse pit, and the grave and the chariot-and-horse pit are in the same rock pit. The grave is partitioned into the outer coffin chamber, the inner coffin chamber, two nested coffins, two storage boxes and three human victim pits. From this tomb, large amounts of jades, bronzes and other artifacts about 200 pieces (or sets) in total were unearthed. This tomb has large scale, high rank, special structure and rich grave goods, all of which are significantly meaningful for the researches on the cultures and burial system of this region during the Eastern Zhou Period.

The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication

The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication. One of the central questions in the development of Mesoamerican civilization is how the alimentary, agronomic, and ecological complementarities were achieved within the milpa agroecosystem, which is one of its more important and distinctive cultural elements. In the Mesoamerican center of origin of agriculture and domestication of plants, located in western Mexico, we inquired among Nahuatl communities about the ancient dishes prepared with wild plants that are part of their ancient foodways, and the tools and technology used to prepare them. We found that the wild progenitors of Agave spp., Zea mays L, Cucurbita argyrosperma Hort. Ex L.H. Bayley, Phaseolus spp., Capsicum annum L., Solanum lycopersicum L., Physalis phyladelphica Lam, Spondias purpurea L., Persea americana Mill., and Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit are consumed in dishes that remain in the present food culture of the poor peasants, and are prepared with techniques and tools that were available in the Archaic period: Sun drying, roasting, toasting, baking, cracking, grinding, crushing, fermenting, and soaking in plain water or in water with ash, using three–stone fireplaces, stone toasters, crushers, grinders, rock pits, and three types of earth ovens. A remarkable finding was that beans could be incorporated into the diet without boiling, but just by toasting, stone grinding, and baking in corn dough tamales. Results obtained suggest that the basic Mesoamerican diet could have been shaped before the species involved were domesticated. Its nutritional complementarity since the Archaic period could have been one of the incentives for the development of the milpa system and the domestication of its species, achieving in this way also their ecological and agronomical complementarity.

Application of Hole by Hole Blasting Technique in the Foundation Pit Excavation

The excavation blasting is required for the rock pit of a steel plant in Huangshi city. Due to the chimmey and pool of in-situ concrete foundation are close to the complex environment blasting area, the small hole bench blasting, hole by hole blasting technique were adopted, the reasonable network parameters and millisecond delay time were investigated. Meanwhile the blasting hole was covered for protection. It is shown that the proposed solution can decrease blasting vibration but also control the fly-rocks. The rock blasting effect is favorable and the blasting purpose is achieved.

Excavation of the Yuyang Tomb of the Western Han Dynasty at Wangchengpo, Changsha, Hunan

AbstractIn 1993, archaeologists carried out a rescue excavation to the Yuyang Tomb situated to the west of Xianjia Lake in Changsha City, Hunan. The graveyard covers an area of more than 1ha. Surrounding the main burial pit were three outer burial pits arranged to the east, west, and south into a triangular plan. The main body is a vertical rock pit tomb with a ramp passage and wooden coffins. It is in a 甲-shaped plan with a length of 37m, composed of an earth mound, a tomb passage, and a tomb chamber. The burial style was

First dengue virus detection in Aedes albopictus from Delhi, India: Its breeding ecology and role in dengue transmission

To report dengue virus and its disease transmission in Aedes albopictus in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, India. Monthly Aedes surveys were carried out in 126 urban localities of Delhi in 2008 and 2009. Pools of all three species of Aedes mosquitoes were tested for Dengue virus (DENV) using an antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Aedes aegypti was the most prevalent species, breeding throughout the year. Aedes albopictus was found in 9.52% of surveyed localities including the central urban part of Delhi, in March and from August to October. Aedes albopictus and Aedes vittatus are adapting to breed in manmade containers in the urban areas of Delhi in addition to their natural habitats of bamboo bushes and rock pits. Of the 229 pools of Ae. aegypti and 34 pools of Ae. albopictus tested, 10.5% and 11.76% were positive for dengue virus, respectively. No dengue virus infection was recorded in Ae. vittatus. This is the first report of dengue virus in Ae. albopictus from north India. Because DENV was detected in Ae. albopictus, which adapted to manmade containers, both its spread and transmission dynamics should be checked.

Paradise lost? Assessment of liabilities at a Uranium mine in the Slovak Republic: Novoveska Huta

Abstract In central and eastern Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, prevailing economic and political conditions resulted in a rapid closure of many uranium mining and processing activities. These closures have left a long-lived human health impact. In countries and regions of relatively sparse economic resources, it is essential to understand the true significance of arising impacts and the financial consequences of their mitigation. A pilot study performed at a former site of uranium mining in the Slovak Republic illustrates a methodology to evaluate human health and environmental impact. The main findings are: • The former mining site shows complexity typical of an area in which there is diffuse contamination arising from leaching from waste heaps, and uncontrolled discharges from adits into water courses. In particular, significant hazards occur at the sites due to the presence of uranium ore and its progeny at the surface, which may result in radiological exposure via direct irradiation, ingestion and inhalation of dust or radon. • Site characterization considered both traditional areas of sampling and analysis (rock, soil, dust, radon and water) and identification of those activities and groups or individuals directly or potentially affected by exposure to contamination at the site. These ranged from workers occupying offices and workshops on one of the waste rock heaps, to house builders using waste rock (and potentially ore) for construction purposes, to a range of people exposed due to their recreational activities at the sites (hikers, mineral collectors, rock climbers and gatherers of wild produce). • Historical recultivation measures performed at the site in the 1980s were generally ineffective at curtailing the whole range of radiological hazards. Measures were taken at most sites to bury exposed ore to minimize external irradiation. However, in those cases in which recultivation of heaps was successful, it did little to reduce the impact of radon emanation. Instead, recultivation appeared to have the surprising consequence of reducing the potential dose to the public, via an unrelated route, by making waste rock/ore more difficult to remove for the purpose of construction. • When the importance of all the hazards were ranked, the most significant risk factor arose from inhalation of radon emanating from foundations built from waste rock material. • Of all of the liabilities, a partially water-filled waste rock pit resulted in the highest dose rates. When time spent at this relatively remote site was taken into account, the potential doses received remained to be comparatively high. The most at risk groups were those working, in buildings, on the waste rock heaps and those people who have removed waste rock/ore for building purposes. • Mitigation measures to reduce doses experienced by the exposed groups can be summarized as: — prevention of the use of waste rock material for the purpose of house building; — reducing the overall accessibility to the sites, using barriers; — restricting the recreational value of the sites, by placement of warning signs/fencing (short term); — relocation of offices and laboratories on the heaps or improvement of the overall ventilation of the working areas.

Salt Mining and Associated Subsidence in Mid-Cheshire, England, and its Influence on Planning

Rock salt occurs in the Lower and Upper Keuper Saliferous Beds in Cheshire, the former being 190 m while the latter is 404 m in maximum thickness. Although most of the Triassic rocks in Cheshire are covered by thick superficial deposits, natural brine runs occur at the surface and salt was recovered from these springs as long ago as Roman times. Indeed, most salt was obtained in this way until the end of the seventeenth century. In 1670 salt was discovered at Marbury near Northwich, and the first mine was sunk in 1682. In the succeeding eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the salt industry expanded enormously and many mines and brine pits were sunk. The mines frequently had a short life and poor mining practices often led to roof collapse and ingress of water. When water entered into a collapsed mine it attacked the pillars and walls and thereby penetrated into adjacent mines. As adjacent mines collapsed subsidence spread until sets of flooded mines formed large underground reservoirs. Associated “rock pit holes” occurred at the surface. In terms of salt production, wild brine pumping became increasingly more important and overtook mining in the nineteenth century. The most successful wild brine pumping occurred on the major pre-existing natural brine runs. Such abstraction accelerated the formation of solution channels and active subsidence was concentrated at the heads and sides of brine runs. Serious subsidences could occur at considerable distances from the point of abstraction (up to 8 km). Flashes, that is, water-filled linear hollows, are probably the most notable features produced by such subsidence. The most disastrous subsidences took place in the second half of the nineteenth century and were due to the development of bastard brine pumping, that is, pumping from abandoned mine workings. These subsidences occurred suddenly and were on a large scale, producing dramatic loss of property and even life. Bastard brine pumping also disturbed brine levels significantly which, in turn, gave rise to sudden local collapses. Because of the unpredictable nature of subsidence due to wild brine pumping, responsibility could not be attributed to any particular wild brine operator. Hence, two Compensation for Subsidence Acts (1891 and 1952) were passed which imposed levies on the operators in order to provide compensation funds for subsidence damage. The latter act primarily extended the compensation district. The number of wild brine pumpers declined throughout the twentieth century, and after 1968 the County Council withheld permission to extend pumping outside the demarcated areas and no permission was given to sink new wild brine wells. It was their intention to phase out wild brine pumping by the 19809s. This has very nearly been accomplished, controlled solution mining now producing 99 percent of the brine in Cheshire. It is alleged that this method of production has given rise to no subsidence.

Swedish solar heating with seasonal storage—design, performance and economy

SYNOPSIS At the present time two Swedish group solar heating plants with seasonal storage, connected to residential areas with about 50 single-family houses, have been in operation for 4 years. The Lambohov Plant has a total of 2700 m2 of flat plate collectors and a 10 000 m3 rock pit store. The Ingelstad plant has a total of 1300 m2 of concentrating collectors and a 5000 m3 free-standing tank. The emphasis of the assessment has been on system performance as a whole. Most of the emphasis has been placed on general conclusions concerning technology and economy for seasonal storage plants.