Rohstoffnutzung, Rohstoffabbau, Mineralien, Erze, Steine und Erden, Metalle, Industriemineralien, Seltene Erden, Salze, Kies, Kohle, Erdgas, Bergbau, Ökotoxikologie

Kupfer für Stromkabel, Erdöl zum Heizen, Silber für Schmuck und Zink im Auto – mineralische Rohstoffe sind in unserem Alltag allgegenwärtig. Schon früh haben die Menschen mineralische Rohstoffe genutzt. Kenntnisse über Vorkommen und Anwendungsmöglichkeiten haben von jeher einen Vorteil bedeutet und oft Reichtum und Macht gefördert. Und auch heute sind Rohstoffe für viele Länder ein wichtiger Wirtschaftsfaktor. Die Verfügbarkeit von Rohstoffen ist für uns selbstverständlich und der weltweite Verbrauch nimmt stetig zu. Was sind die Folgen unserer zunehmenden Nutzung dieser nicht erneuerbaren Ressourcen? Welche Herausforderungen kommen auf uns zu?

Advance Drainage, Drainage Boreholes, Tunnel, Face Stability, Limit Equilibrium, Fault Zone, Drainage Capacity, Equivalent Hydraulic Conductivity, Borehole Casing, Lead-Time, Groundwater Drawdown, Settlement, Inflow, Grouting Body, Displacement, Characteristic Line

This PhD thesis investigates the effectiveness of drainage measures with respect to two particularly important problems associated with tunnelling through water-bearing, weak ground: the stability of the tunnel face and the stability and deformation of grouting bodies. Water is an adverse factor with respect to the stability and deformation of underground structures due to the pore water pressure and the seepage forces associated with seepage flow towards the tunnel. Drainage boreholes reduce the pore water pressure and the seepage forces in the vicinity of the cavity. Furthermore, loss of pore water pressure increases the effective stresses and thus the shearing resistance of the ground ("consolidation"), which is favourable in terms the deformation occurring during and after tunnelling.

Weather Research, Meteorology, Atmospheric Sciences

In 2016 the Swiss Society for Meteorology (Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Meteorologie, SGM) celebrates its 100th anniversary. The idea of this book is to give an overview of what has happened in the field of atmospheric sciences in Switzerland since the first systematic long-term meteorological observations until today.

Endlager, Entsorgungslösung, Resilienz, Sicherheitsrisiko, Atommüll

Die Entsorgung hochradioaktiver Abfälle ist ein anspruchsvolles Vorhaben. Wird dauerhafte Sicherheit für Menschen und Umwelt angestrebt, müssen die Abfälle nach heutiger Auffassung über einen Zeitraum von einer Million Jahren oder länger von der Biosphäre abgeschlossen werden. Ist es möglich, ein solches Ziel zu erreichen?

Science, Transformation, Evolution, Physics, Chmistry, Biology, Geology, Astronomy, Culture

The development of science over the course of many centuries has shown that there are things in our universe which took incredibly long to form, such as planets or galaxies. While, in contrast, there are processes, for example inside our body, which happen so incredibly fast that they are beyond our ability to fully comprehend. Using examples from different time periods or timescales we aim to give you deeper insight, both visually and with text, into some of the most amazing physical events, cultural developments and biological processes from life. These examples are brought together using three intertwined themes: life, light, and science.

Landslide, Mudslide, Soil Mechnics, Hydraulic, Rhine, Rüdlingen

Landslides triggered by rainfall cause significant damage to infrastructure annually and affect many lives in several parts of the world, including Switzerland. These landslides are initiated by a decrease in the effective stresses, and hence the shear strength of the soil, as a result of the increase in pore water pressure.

Flood Protection, Rhone, Failure Mechanism, Overflow

Knowledge of the performance of river dykes during flooding is necessary when designing governmental assistance plans aimed to reduce both casualties and material damage. This is especially relevant when floods have increased in their frequency during the last decades, together with the resulting material damage and life costs.

Braunkohlebergbau, Altlasten, Tonboden, Bodenverbesserung

Double porosity soil is characterised by a soil continuum containing two distinct porosities. Typically, this consists of macro-grains (lumps) of soil that have an internal porosity defined as the intragranular porosity. The spaces between lumps are identified as intergranular voids that give rise to the intergranular porosity. Human activities such as land reclamation or mining can give rise to large areas of land with subsoil that exhibits double porosity. The need to build in, or on, these areas is increasing, due to demand for land for industrial usage, infrastructure, and residence. However, the engineering properties of such soils are challenging, and often difficult to predict due to their inhomogeneity and a lack of information about the initial or current parameters.

Double porosity mining waste landfills in Northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic were studied in this project. There, decades of open-cast mining of brown coal have left vast areas of land affected by the waste overburden that has been removed and dumped in old mining pits. Redevelopment of areas affected by mining sometimes requires construction on old overburden waste spoil heaps, which consist primarily of lumps of overconsolidated clay and are therefore characterised by a double porosity soil structure. The loading response on these clayfills entails large absolute and relative deformations, which means that ground improvement is normally needed before construction begins, to ensure that both stability and service limit state requirements are met.

The primary aim of this research was a comparison, through physical modelling, of ground improvement techniques on double porosity clay landfills. A secondary objective was to contribute to the understanding of the material behaviour governing response to loading and other processes on double porosity soil.

For more information see extract.

Permafrost, Rock Glacier, Crawling Motion, Slope Instability, Geotechnical Engineering

Alpine permafrost exists at high altitude at lower latitudes, such as in the Swiss Alps. Accelerating climate change, including rising mean annual air temperature and extreme rainfall conditions in alpine regions induces permafrost degradation.

Plattentektonik, Geologie, Gebirgsbildung, Alpen

Die dritte Auflage enthält neu ein Kapitel mit Cartoons von Mike van Audenhove: "Alpen by Mike".

Dieses Buch nimmt Sie mit auf eine geologische Zeitreise durch die Schweiz. Erkennen Sie die Zusammenhänge zwischen Plattentektonik und Gebirgsbildung am Beispiel der Alpen und des Juras. Erfahren Sie, wie Sedimentgesteine als Archive zur Geschichte eines vergangenen Ozeans sowie zur Entstehung eines Gebirges dienen.

Hochwasserschutz, Wasserretention, Rhone, Geotechnik

Die Hochwasserereignisse der letzten Jahrzehnte haben die Grenzen des Hochwasserschutzes deutlich ans Licht gebracht. Die Analyse der Auswirkungen von Klimaänderungen lässt zudem eine Erhöhung des Hochwasserrisikos befürchten. Viele Flussdämme als wichtiger Bestandteil des Hochwasserschutzes stammen aus dem 19. Jahrhundert und entsprechen nicht mehr dem heutigen Stand der Technik. Der Handlungsbedarf ist gross und es müssen Prioritäten entsprechend dem Gefährdungspotenzial gesetzt werden. In dieser Hinsicht sind zusätzliche Kenntnisse vom Verhalten der Flussdämme unter wiederholter Hochwasserbelastung und wechselnder Witterung notwendig.

Geothermics, Energy Supply, Electricity Generation

Switzerland's Energy Strategy 2050 requires energy efficiency to be substantially improved, the proportion of fossil fuels in the energy supply to be considerably reduced, and nuclear power to be phased out, while meeting highly ambitious climate protection targets. One of the core implications is the need for a massive increase of the use of renewable sources for electricity generation.

Soil Bioengineering, Construction Type, Reference Book, Construction Material, Plants

This illustrated Construction Type Manual in 5 languages compiles 170 construction methods describing techniques which use plants as building materials. This includes preparations necessary before they can be planted and become effective. This is followed by work which allows the plants alone to take over technical, ecological and aesthetic functions. Chapter 7, which is the largest one, contains methods of stabilizing structures by combining living with non-living materials. The sustainability of soil bioengineering measures is safeguarded by maintenance to which a separate chapter is dedicated. The Construction Type Manual serves to foster understanding among experts and to harmonize European norms.

Tunnelling, Claystones, Gypsum Keuper, Swelling Process

Sulphatic claystones are among the most problematic rocks in tunnelling due to their distinctive swelling properties. They are known to have caused severe damage, for example, to numerous tunnels excavated in the Gypsum Keuper formation. The repairs were extremely costly and time-consuming, and often provided only a temporary solution. The setbacks experienced in tunnelling through Gypsum Keuper may be attributed, among other things, to our limited knowledge of the macroscopic principles governing the swelling process and the underlying microscopic mechanisms.

Schweiz, Berggebietspolitik, Alpendiskurs, Berggebietsentwicklung, Alpenkonvention, Alpentransversale

Die Berge sind seit über 150 Jahren ein bedeutendes Thema in der Schweizer Politiklandschaft. Seit Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts prägen sie massgeblich das Nationalbewusstsein, stellen eine wichtige touristische Ressource dar und waren insbesondere seit den 1920er-Jahren viele Male Gegenstand der öffentlichen Politik sowie unzähliger Kontroversen.

Gletscherschmelze, Gletschersee, Wassernutzung

Neue Seen als Folge des Gletscherschwundes im Hochgebirge: Klimaabhängige Bildung und Herausforderungen für eine nachhaltige Nutzung (Projekt NELAK des NFP 61).