The cracking during the drying process of thickened tailings stack is a critical issue impacting its stability. This study establishes a comprehensive analytical framework that encompasses both mechanism cognition and technical methodologies by systematically integrating multidimensional research findings. Research indicates that cracking results from the coupling effects of environmental parameters and process conditions. The environmental chamber, with its precise control over external conditions, has emerged as essential experimental equipment for simulating actual working environments. From a mechanical perspective, water evaporation induces volume shrinkage, leading to microcrack formation when local tensile stress surpasses the matrix's tensile strength, ultimately resulting in a network of interconnected cracks. This process is governed by the dual parameters of matric suction and tensile strength. In terms of theoretical modeling, the fracture mechanics model analyzes crack propagation laws from an energy dissipation standpoint, while the stress path analysis model emphasizes the consolidation shrinkage coupling effect. The tensile damage model is particularly advantageous for engineering practice due to its parameter measurability. In numerical simulation technology, the finite element method is constrained by the predetermined crack path, whereas the discrete element method can dynamically reconstruct the crack evolution process but encounters the technical challenge of large-scale multi-field coupling calculations. Research suggests that future efforts should focus on optimizing theoretical prediction models that account for the characteristics and cracking behavior of tailings materials. Additionally, it is essential to develop a comprehensive equipment system that integrates real-time monitoring, intelligent regulation, and data analysis. This paper innovatively proposes the establishment of a multi-scale collaborative research paradigm that integrates indoor testing, numerical simulation, and on-site monitoring. By employing data fusion technology, it aims to enhance the accuracy of crack predictions and provide both theoretical support and technical guarantees for the safety prevention and control of thickened tailings stacks throughout their entire life cycle.

Ice records provide a qualitative rather than a quantitative indication of the trend of climate change. Using the bulk aerodynamic method and degree day model, this study quantified ice mass loss attributable to sublimation/evaporation (S/E) and meltwater on the basis of integrated observations (1960-2006) of glacier-related and atmospheric variables in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. During 1961-2005, the average annual mass loss in the ice core was 95.33 +/- 20.56 mm w.e. (minimum: 78.97 mm w.e. in 1967, maximum: 146.67 mm w.e. in 2001), while the average ratio of the revised annual ice accumulation was 21.2 +/- 7.7% (minimum: 11.0% in 1992, maximum 44.8% in 2000). A quantitative formula expressing the relationship between S/E and air temperature at the monthly scale was established, which could be extended to estimation of S/E changes of other glaciers in other regions. The elevation effect on alpine precipitation determined using revised ice accumulation and instrumental data was found remarkable. This work established a method for quantitative assessment of the temporal variation in ice core mass loss, and advanced the reconstruction of long-term precipitation at high elevations. Importantly, the formula established for reconstruction of S/E from temperature time series data could be used in other regions.

In this study, a novel 2D method for measuring soil surface suction, leveraging infrared thermal imaging technology is presented. The main principle of this method is the establishment of a correlation between soil surface water content and a normalized interfacial temperature difference. Subsequently, we link unsaturated soil surface suction to the normalized interfacial temperature difference through the soil-water characteristic curve. To validate the proposed method, an in-situ calibration test was conducted to ascertain the requisite parameters. Then, the method was tested under varying meteorological conditions at two distinct in-situ sites using the same test protocol as the calibration phase. The results demonstrate a strong agreement compared to measured values, affirming the feasibility and robustness of the proposed approach. This method offers several noteworthy advantages, including rapidity, non-contact operation, non-destructiveness, and robustness to environmental fluctuations. It holds promise for advancing investigation of the spatial and temporal evolution of hydro-mechanical properties of in-situ soil under the influence of climate change.

Expansive soils are susceptible to cracking due to significant moisture fluctuations, which can potentially lead to structural instability. Although geogrid reinforcement is widely used to control soil swelling and shrinkage, its effects on cracking behavior are not fully understood. This study investigates the influence of geogrid reinforcement on the cracking behavior of expansive soils by comparing soil samples reinforced with two layers of geogrid to unreinforced samples under evaporation conditions. Crack development was monitored using high- resolution imaging and fluorescence tracing to measure crack depth and calculate surface crack ratio. Additionally, moisture content distribution and evaporation rates were assessed. The results show that geogrid reinforcement reduced the total crack ratio by 1.34% and decreased average crack depth by 43.5%, leading to a more uniform crack distribution with smaller openings. Both internal and external cracks facilitated moisture exchange between the soil and atmosphere. The frictional and interlocking effects at the soil-geogrid interface effectively inhibited cracking and reduced moisture migration. The uniaxial geogrid also induced anisotropy crack restraint, with environmental exposure and geogrid orientation playing critical roles in crack control. Overall, these findings demonstrate the effectiveness of geogrids in enhancing the stability of expansive soils and limiting atmospheric influence through crack suppression.

Severe scaling and spalling are commonly observed on tunnel lining surfaces in sulfate-rich environments. Due to humidity gradients, sulfate solution in rock fissures migrates through capillary action to the concrete exposed face, leading to physical crystallization precipitation at free-face zone and chemical sulfate attack at soil-facing zone, resulting in concrete expansion and crack. Existing models focus on full immersion or wet-dry cycles, which have obvious errors in predicting concrete damage under similar partial immersion. Considering the time- varying characteristics of saturation, porosity, calcium leaching and crack, a transport-reaction-expansion model for lining concrete under dual sulfate attacks and water evaporation was established. The spatiotemporal distribution of phase composition and the influence of modeling parameters on concrete expansion were revealed. The expansion strain caused by dual sulfate attacks and changes in the water evaporation zone was discussed. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for the durability design of lining concrete in sulfate- rich environment.

Effective weed management is crucial for maintaining soil health and ensuring the availability of essential resources, such as water, and sunlight. However, current weed control strategies fall short in terms of sustainability and environmental impact, with issues like chemical resistance, soil microplastics and non-targeted damage becoming increasingly prevalent. Here, a potential weed control fabric based on eco-friendly and abundant jute fiber is demonstrated that reduces weed growth and minimizes the level of water evaporation. Jute weed control fabrics (JWCFs) are structurally and density adjusted to create different fabric porosities. The variation in porosity effectively regulates the transmission of sunlight hindering weed photosynthesis while effectively reducing water evaporation. The optimization of microporosity improves the performance of the fabric in suppressing weeds and retaining soil moisture. Field experiments with JWCFs revealed a reduction of 61-100 % in weed growth, an average decrease of 1.6-4.3 degrees C in soil heat accumulation, 6.0-68.5 % suppression of water evaporation, and a 47.52 % weight loss after 40 days of degradation. These findings underscore the feasibility of utilizing jute fabric as an effective weed control solution, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional weed management methods.

External factors affecting the processes of sprinkler irrigation water flow generation, flight, and landing have not been thoroughly considered in existing ballistic models. This result indicates that ballistic models with better prediction effects under specific conditions are not sufficient for extension to multi-factor coupled scenarios in large-scale farmlands. Therefore, wind, evaporation, surface slope, and tilted sprinkler riser factors were comprehensively considered in this study. Differential equations for jet and droplet motion under the influence of wind, differential equations of droplet evaporation, sprinkler riser deflection angle matrix, and surface slope angle matrix were constructed to establish a droplet distribution model for sprinkler irrigation considering multifactor coupling using MATLAB 2018a software. The results showed that, under different working conditions, the data points of the droplet landing diameter, velocity, and angle were distributed near the 1:1 line. The Nash efficiency coefficients (NSE) for the droplet landing diameter, velocity, and angle varied from 0.821 to 0.932, 0.616 to 0.931, and 0.770 to 0.911, respectively. The increase in slope resulted in droplets with diameters larger than 4.63 mm concentrating on the land in the reverse slope direction. When the ambient temperature increases from 10 to 45 degrees C and the total evaporation rate increases from 0.45 to 4.37%, the larger droplets have a larger area of contact with the air, and the higher the temperature, the greater the energy loss to the larger droplet diameters. The higher the wind speed, the more droplets in the downwind direction fall to the ground at a smaller landing angle, which can easily increase the risk of soil shear damage. If the sprinkler riser was tilted east, the droplets on both the east and west sides tended to be distributed centrally; the maximum droplet landing velocity occurred on the east side (tilted side), and the maximum droplet landing angle occurred on the west side. This study considers various factors that may affect the motion of sprinkler irrigation water flow, extends the application scenarios of the theoretical model, and improves the applicability of the theoretical model for sprinkler irrigation droplet motion in more complex and practical agricultural environments.

The study is concerned with the rate of evaporation from porous rock, including the second stage of evaporation characterised by the existence of a dry surface layer separated from the wet capillary zone by a sharp evaporation front. The main objective is to investigate the relationship between the depth of evaporation front and the rate of evaporation as the drying process progresses, and to compare measured evaporation rate with the corresponding calculated values. Sandstone core samples saturated with water were allowed to dry naturally under room conditions, while the changes in the evaporation rate and the depth of evaporation front, among other quantities, were measured. We demonstrate that the evaporation rate can be very accurately determined from the depth of the evaporation front and the ambient air temperature and relative humidity using Fick's law for water-vapor diffusion. During the second stage of evaporation, the diffusion flux through the dry surface layer is computed using the water-vapor diffusion coefficient of the rock, determined from a separate wet cup experiment. In order to cover the first stage of evaporation, an additional parameter characterising the diffusion layer of air above the surface is required, either determined by the best fit to the measured evaporation rates, or adopted from previous studies. The calculated evaporation rate was in good agreement with measurements, with Pearson correlation coefficient 0.98 and relative error of the calculations averaging 15% over the evaporation front depths ranging from 0 to 29 mm. A workflow for determining the evaporation rate from sandstone outcrops is suggested, along with possible applications in sandstone weathering research.

Expansive soil is a special soil type that undergoes volume expansion during hygroscopicity and volume contraction during dehumidification. In this study, the effects of rainfall-evaporation cycles on the microscopic pores and cracks of expansive soils under different rainfall intensities were analyzed by simulating light rainfall, medium rainfall, and high-temperature drought environments using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology and image processing methods. The results showed that the micropores and small medium pores of the expanded soil gradually evolved into macropores during the cycling process, especially under stronger rainfall conditions. In addition, as the number of cycles increased, the expanded soil showed irrecoverable pore changes, which ultimately led to the scattering damage of the soil. By processing the surface crack images of expansive soils, the process of crack development was categorized into four stages, and it was found that the evaporation cycle of medium rainfall intensity caused the main cracks of expansive soils to develop more rapidly. A quantitative relationship model between the average crack width and the number of cycles as well as porosity was constructed, and the regression coefficient of determination R2 reached 0.98, 0.96, and 0.84, respectively. This study simulates the effects of real rainfall conditions on expansive soils and investigates the mechanism and evolution of cracks in expansive soils, which is of great theoretical and practical significance.

Increasing soil salinization and microplastics (MPs) pollution of farmland have become global agricultural issues that have to be faced, destabilizing plant-soil systems and bringing threats to ecosystems. Few studies have focused on the effects of MPs on saline soil water evaporation and desiccation crack formation, and the underlying influencing mechanisms of MPs and salts in soils. A mechanism test was conducted to explore the effects of MPs concentrations (0.5 %, 1 %, 3 %, w/w) on the simultaneous changes of water evaporation and cracking patterns of saline soils with different salinities (0, 0.1 %, 0.3 %, 0.5 %, w/w). Quantitative findings showed that (1) the MPs significantly reduced saturated conductivity by 14.9-46.8 % and 4.6-54.5 % in non-saline soil and lightly saline soil, respectively, which showed a decreasing trend with increasing MPs concentration; besides, soil salts also significantly reduced saturated conductivity, but the inhibition weakened with increasing soil salinity. (2) The MPs significantly reduced total porosity by 2.2-7.9 % and 1.8-6.6 % in non-saline and saline soils, respectively, which exhibited a slight decreasing trend with increasing MPs concentration. (3) The MPs reduced total evaporation by 0.4-6.1 % and 0.9-6.5 % in non-saline and saline soils, respectively. As the MPs concentration increased, the total evaporation of non-saline soil decreased, and the total evaporation of saline soils firstly decreased and then increased. After evaporation, both soil salt and MPs inhibited cracking. Correlations indicated that the presence of soil salt and MPs and their interactions explained more than half of the variability of soil and water characteristics and crack parameters. Mechanism exploration suggested that the MPs affect the evaporation process and crack behavior by changing soil pore size distribution, damaging soil structure, and the water repellency of the MPs particles; besides, the salts inhibit the soil water evaporation and surface cracking through increasing osmotic suction, blocking soil macropores, and promoting inter-microaggregate cementation. Our findings provide evidences for MPs influences on saline soil physical properties, water evaporation, and crack development, deserving attentions to the regulations and developments of soil-crop systems that facing salinization and plastic pollution.