Study of geothermal water intrusion due to groundwater exploitation in the Puebla Valley aquifer system, Mexico

Significant intrusion of geothermal water into fresh groundwater takes place in the Puebla Valley aquifer system, Mexico. The decline in the potentiometric surface due to the overexploitation of the groundwater induces this intrusion. This hydrological system comprises three aquifers located in Plio-Quaternary volcanic sediments and Mesozoic calcareous rocks. The hydraulic balance of the aquifer shows that the annual output exceeds the natural inputs by 12 million m³. Between 1973 and 2002, a drop in the potentiometric surface, with an 80 m cone of depression, was identified in a 5-km-wide area located southwest of the city of Puebla. Chemical analyses performed on water samples since 1990 have shown an increase in total dissolved solids (TDS) of more than 500 mg/L, coinciding with the region showing a cone of depression in the potentiometric surface. A three-dimensional flow and transport model, based on the hydrogeological and geophysical studies, was computed by using the MODFLOW and MT3D software. This model reproduces the evolution of the aquifer system during the last 30 years and predicts for 2010 an additional drawdown in the potentiometric surface of 15 m, and an increase in the geothermal water intrusion.     

Soil quality changes in land degradation as indicated by soil chemical, biochemical and microbiological properties in a karst area of southwest Guizhou, China

Not only the nutritional status and biological activity but also the soil ecological functioning or soil health has been impacted profoundly by land degradation in the karst area of southwest China where the karst ecosystems are generally considered as extremely vulnerable to land degradation under intensified land-use changes. The objectives of this study are to elucidate the changes in overall soil quality by a holistic approach of soil nutritional, biological activity, and soil health indicators in the karst area as impacted by intense cultivation and vegetation degradation. Topsoil samples were collected on selected eco-tesserae in a sequence of land degradation in a karst area of southwest Guizhou in 2004. The soil nutrient pools of organic carbon (C_org), extractable extracellular carbon (C_ext), total soil nitrogen (N_t), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (N_ah), total phosphorus (P_t), available phosphorus (P_a) were analyzed by wet soil chemistry. The soil biological properties were studied by means of measurements of microbial biomass carbon (both by fumigation–extraction, FE-C_mic, and by calculation from substrate-incubation respiration, SIR-C_mic) of respiration [respiration without addition of substrates, basal respiration (BR), and potential respiration (PR) with substrate-incubation] and of soil enzyme activities (invertase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase). Soil health status was assessed by simple indices of C_mic/C_org and BR/C_mic in conjunction with bacterial community structures determined by polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. While the nutritional pool parameters, such as C_org and C_ext, described basically the changes in soil life-supporting capacity with cultivation interference and vegetation declined, those parameters of biological activity such as FE-C_mic, SIR, and SIR-C_mic as well as bacterial community structures measured by molecular method evidenced well the changes in soil functioning for ecosystem health with the land degradation.     

Optimization of SAGD Well Elevation

The application of steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) to recover heavy oil sands is becoming increasingly important in the northern Alberta McMurray Formation because of the vast resources/reserves accessible with this mechanism. Selecting the stratigraphic elevations of SAGD well pairs is a vital decision for reservoir evaluation and planning. The inherent uncertainty in the distribution of geological variables significantly influences this decision. Geostatistical simulation is used to capture geological uncertainty, which is used can be transformed into a distribution of the best possible well pair elevations. A simple exhaustive calculation scheme is used to determine the optimum stratigraphic location of a SAGD well pair where the recovery R is maximized. There are three basic steps to the methodology: (1) model the uncertainty in the top continuous bitumen (TCB) and bottom continuous bitumen (BCB) surfaces, (2) calculate the recovery at all possible elevation increments within the TCB and BCB interval, and (3) identify the elevation that maximizes R. This is repeated for multiple TCB/BCB pairs of surfaces to assess uncertainty. The methodology is described and implemented on a subset of data from the Athabasca Oilsands in Fort McMurray, Alberta.     

3D numerical modelling of fluid flow in the Val-d’Or orogenic gold district: major crustal shear zones drain fluids from overpressured vein fields

Fluid flow patterns have been determined using oxygen isotope isopleths in the Val-d’Or orogenic gold district. 3D numerical modelling of fluid flow and oxygen isotope exchange in the vein field shows that the fluid flow patterns can be reproduced if the lower boundary of the model is permeable, which represents middle or lower crustal rocks that are infiltrated by a metamorphic fluid generated at deeper levels. This boundary condition implies that the major crustal faults so conspicuous in vein fields do not act as the only major channel for upward fluid flow. The upper model boundary is impermeable except along the trace of major crustal faults where fluids are allowed to drain out of the vein field. This upper impermeable boundary condition represents a low-permeability layer in the crust that separates the overpressured fluid from the overlying hydrostatic fluid pressure regime. We propose that the role of major crustal faults in overpressured vein fields, independent of tectonic setting, is to drain hydrothermal fluids out of the vein field along a breach across an impermeable layer higher in the crust and above the vein field. This breach is crucial to allow flow out of the vein field and accumulation of metals in the fractures, and this breach has major implications for exploration for mineral resources. We propose that tectonic events that cause episodic metamorphic dehydration create a short-lived pulse of metamorphic fluid to rise along zones of transient permeability. This results in a fluid wave that propagates upward carrying metals to the mineralized area. Earthquakes along crustal shear zones cause dilation near jogs that draw fluids and deposit metals in an interconnected network of subsidiary shear zones. Fluid flow is arrested by an impermeable barrier separating the hydrostatic and lithostatic fluid pressure regimes. Fluids flow through the evolving and interconnected network of shear zones and by advection through the rock matrix. Episodic breaches in the impermeable barrier along the crustal shear zones allow fluid flow out of the vein field.     

秦皇岛市矿产开发引发的地质环境问题及对策

秦皇岛市矿产资源丰富,矿业已成为秦皇岛市特别是地方经济的支柱之一。伴随着矿业的发展,在矿产开发过程中引发的地质环境问题日益突出,如采空区地表变形(地面塌陷、地裂缝等)、岩溶塌陷、露天采矿边坡失稳、尾矿引发的泥石流、水土流失以及地貌景观的破坏等。这些地质环境问题主要分布在北部的山区和丘陵台地区。形成的原因复杂,主要有法制不健全、缺乏强制恢复机制、布局不合理、监管不到位、开采技术落后、不合理开采、资金缺乏以及从业者环保意识淡薄等方面的原因。对于矿山地质环境的保护,应采取加强立法、建立保证金制度、统一规划、加强监管、加大宣传力度以及建立责任追究制度等措施。     

多媒体地理信息系统的网络结构分析

数据模型是GIS的灵魂和关键,为了使开发出的GIS尽可能准确地反映地理空间,能够较好地满足GIS用户各方面的需要,而网络拓扑对网络的构成也至关重要,本文分析和总结了早期和近期GIS几种数据模型的优缺点,并在此基础上提出了整体GIS数据模型及网络设计的几种常见模式.     

Geodatabase版本控制原理剖析

随着地理信息系统的发展及其应用的不断扩大,多用户并发操作、长事务处理以及历史数据回溯管理成为大型空间数据库的基本要求,ESRI在面向对象地理模型(Geodatabase数据模型)中通过版本控制为空间数据库的上述要求提供了有效的解决方案。本文详细分析了Geodatabase版本控制基本原理,为建立、管理大型空间数据库以及研究开发全新面向对象空间数据库管理系统提供参考。     

五道梁地区总辐射的年际变化

利用实测的太阳总辐射通量密度及地气温差资料，建立了月平均地气温差与月平均太阳总辐射通量密度的回归方程，并用该回归方程计算了五道梁地区1980-1993年共14年的月平均总辐射通量密度，分析了该地区总辐射通量密度的年际变化，发现该地区总辐射通量密度具有较明显的6～7年的振荡周期。20世纪后10年年平均总辐射通量密度有增大的趋势。     

2004年全球重大气候事件概述

2004年全球气候持续偏暖。年初，暴雪席卷欧洲多国，美国受到罕见大雪袭击，南亚和墨西哥遭遇低温严寒。北半球夏秋季，西太平洋、大西洋热带风暴活动频繁。日本、菲律宾和美国受灾严重。年内，非洲、亚洲部分国家发生严重干旱；同时，南亚、南美洲及非洲多国暴雨致洪。年内，欧洲伊比利亚半岛、日本和澳大利亚遭遇高温热浪。     

1957-1996台风对中国降水的影响

台风活动中国气候的重要特点之一，它能带来大量降水并造成严重的财产损失。在一些地区，台风降水甚至可以在总降水量中占很大比例。本文目的是研究那些对中国产生影响的台风并重点关注台风对中国降水的影响。文中涉及四个方面的工作。首先，研究了影响中国台风的频率，结果表明台风影响的主要季节为5－11月，尤其以7－9月频繁；在过去40年中影响台风的频率没有明显的变化趋势。第二，对台站台风降水的气候特征分析结果显示，海南和东南沿海地区受台风的影响最大，而且长江以南大部地区每年都受到台风的影响；另外，影响区域大部分地区的台风降水在过去40年中表现出下降的趋势，但是只有东北地区南部这种趋势是显著的。第三，对台风个例的分析表明，个例降水总量和影响面积之间存在着显著的线性关系。最后，对台风造成的中国范围降水总量进行了分析，初步结果显示台风降水总量在1957－1996年间显著减少。