Artigos de Revista

Composite liners comprising a geomembrane (GM) with a circular hole, a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) and a compacted clay liner were studied in tests conducted at three scales to measure the flow rates at the interface between the GM and the GCL and in the composite liners. The tests conducted aimed at studying the influence of the prehydration of the GCLs, the influence of the confining stress, and the influence of the hydraulic head on flow rates through composite liners due to defects mn the GM. Another goal of thesetests was to check the feasibility of an extrapolation of results obtained from small-scale tests to field conditions. The results indicate that the prehydration affected flow rate in a different way according to the confining stress applied and the GCL used. These also indicate that the flow rate decreases with the increase mn confining stress and that this effect 1s higher for prehydrated GCLs than for non-prehydrated GCLs. These results show as well that the flow rate increases when the hydraulic head increases. Finally, small-scale tests overestimate the flow as compared to intermediate and large-scale tests and thus flow obtained in small-scale tests represent an upper bound of flow that would be obtained in field conditions.

A recarga é um processo importante a considerar na definição da sustentabilidade da exploração das águas subterrâneas. Contudo, a recarga não pode ser medida directamente, pelo que a sua quantificação constitui um processo estimativo que recorre a equações de balanço de massa. Estas equações traduzem o modelo conceptual de funcionamento hídrico de uma área de estudo, possibilitando a estimativa da recarga. O modelo conceptual depende da definição espaço-temporal das áreas de recarga, das áreas de descarga, das áreas onde pode ocorrer evapotranspiração a partir da zona saturada, dos limites do corpo hídrico subterrâneo, dos volumes de entrada de água no sistema em estudo, incluindo a precipitação, e das extracções e utilizações de água superficial e subterrânea e respectivas localizações. Nesta comunicação começa-se por se apresentar um modelo conceptual global e a respectiva equação de balanço hídrico, particularizando-se posteriormente para diversas situações que introduzem simplificações nas equações de balanço hídrico. Para os processos dessas equações que não são medidos directamente referem-se métodos de cálculo.

Hydrodynamics, salinity intrusion and stratification in the Guadiana estuary were characterized using two- and three-dimensional models for fresh water flows covering the range of monthly averaged river flows for dry to wet years. Two- and three-dimensional circulation model results were then used to investigate the flushing properties of the lower estuary for passive organisms and for organisms with vertical migration capabilities, respectively. Stratification can occur in the Guadiana estuary for river flows as small as 10 m3 s-1, depending on the tidal amplitude.For homogeneous or weakly stratified conditions, salinity can be found upstream of Alcoutim (km 40) during neap tides, and extends even furtherfor spring tides. For a river flow of 10 m3 s-1, euhaline conditions reach 25 km upstream of the mouth during spring tides. For larger riverflows, the region under stratified conditions is located in the downstream 10 km, and its extent depends mainly on the tidal phase. For river flowsbetween 50 and 300 m3 s-1, salinity intrusion does not extend beyond km 20. As the river flow increases, the upper limits of the several halineregions approach one another, creating a lower estuary where salinity conditions have a wide range of horizontal variability. Residence times of passive organisms in the lower Guadiana estuary depend on the magnitude of the river flow, tides and other mechanisms, varying from a fewhours to 60 days in the range of river flows considered. The variability of residence times with different environmental conditions is similar for all river flows, the upper limit of residence times being about one order of magnitude larger than the lower limit. For river flows above 200 m3 s1, both limits of residence times are small (from a few hours to a few days), showing the dominant role of river flow in these conditions.However, active organisms, with vertical migration capabilities, can remain inside the Guadiana estuary under strong river flows, by taking advantage of the phase lag along the vertical profiles of velocity under stratified conditions. Permanence conditions improve for organisms located in the main channel, due to the larger stratification in deeper areas. The tidal amplitude also plays an important role, spring tides being more favourable to permanence than neap tides.

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Internal solitary waves (ISWs), travelling towards the South South-West (SSW), are now well documented in the northern and central Bay of Biscay. These are formed from large-amplitude internal tides which result from the interaction of the barotropic tide with the steep shelf-break topography. In the present paper, we investigate available satellite imagery (Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and ASAR data) to reveal that the southern Bay of Biscay is also a hotspot region which has a high level of ISW activity. Here, the ISWs travel towards the East North-East from the Cape Finisterre region off North-West Spain. In fact, we reveal the presence of two wave-trains travelling in slightly different directions (0551T and 0401T). By calculating the strength of the barotropic tidal forcing in the region, and identifying the likely propagation pathways (rays) of internal tidal (IT) energy, we identify the generation sites for these wave-trains as lying on either side of the Ortegal Promontory (OP). This is an undersea headland projecting towards the North-West from the north-western coast of Spain (near 441N, 8.51W), and over which the barotropic tides are forced to flow. For each generation site, IT rays emanating from critical topography (where the ray slope is equal to the topographic slope) in regions of strong barotropic forcing, rise to the surface (for one site after a reflection from the sea-floor) and pass through the thermocline close to the earliest occurrences of the ISWs in the respective wave trains. These rays would then produce, through nonlinear processes, the ISWs through the same local generation mechanism that has been used to explain the occurrence of the ISWs in the northern and central Bay. The local generation mechanism may therefore be more widely applicable than previously thought. In addition, the methods we have used to deduce the generation sites for these waves are expected to prove equally useful for studies in other areas of the world s oceans.

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As pozolanas são materiais que às temperaturas ordinárias se combinam, em presença da água, com o hidróxido de cálcio (Ca(OH)2) e com os diferentes componentes do cimento, originando compostos de grande estabilidade na água e com propriedades ligantes.Sabendo-se das potenciais características pozolânicas do pó de tijolo, este material pode ser aplicado em argamassas (e betões) como substituinte parcial do cimento. No entanto, é necessário calcular a sua reactividade pozolânica (pozolanicidade).

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Este artigo apresenta uma possibilidade de reaproveitamento dos resíduos produzidos a partir da construção e demolição de construções que tenham na sua constituição barro vermelho, ou seja resíduos da construção e demolição (RCD), tais como tijolos ou abobadilhas do referido material, submetidos a um processo de seleção e moagem.

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