Unraveling the Peruvian Phase of the Central Andes: stratigraphy,sedimentology and geochronology of the Salar de Atacama Basin (22°30–23°S), northern Chile

The Salar de Atacama Basin holds important information regarding the tectonic activity, sedimentary environments and their variations in northern Chile during Cretaceous times. About 4000 m of high‐resolution stratigraphic columns of the Tonel, Purilactis and Barros Arana Formations reveal braided fluvial and alluvial facies, typical of arid to semi‐arid environments, interrupted by scarce intervals with evaporitic, aeolian and lacustrine sedimentation, displaying an overall coarsening‐upward trend. Clast‐count and point‐count data evidence the progressive erosion from Mesozoic volcanic rocks to Palaeozoic basement granitoids and deposits located around the Cordillera de Domeyko area, which is indicative of an unroofing process. The palaeocurrent data show that the source area was located to the west. The U/Pb detrital zircon geochronological data give maximum depositional ages of 149 Ma for the base of the Tonel Formation (Agua Salada Member), and 107 Ma for its middle member (La Escalera Member); 79 Ma for the lower Purilactis Formation (Limón Verde Member), and 73 Ma for the Barros Arana Formation. The sources of these zircons were located mainly to the west, and comprised from the Coastal Cordillera to the Precordillera. The ages and pulses record the tectonic activity during the Peruvian Phase, which can be split into two large events; an early phase, around 107 Ma, showing uplift of the Coastal Cordillera area, and a late phase around 79 Ma indicating an eastward jump of the deformation front to the Cordillera de Domeyko area. The lack of internal deformation and the thicknesses measured suggest that deposition of the units occurred in the foredeep zone of an eastward‐verging basin. This sedimentation would have ended with the K‐T phase, recognized in most of northern Chile.     

柴达木盆地西部地区咸化湖盆天然气地球化学特征及成因类型判识指标——以古近系—新近系为例

根据天然气地球化学基本理论,对柴达木盆地西部（柴西）地区天然气的地球化学特征进行分析。测试和收集该地区18个油气田及含油气构造的83个天然气样品,分析其组分和C同位素数据,结果显示,该区天然气以烃类气体为主,烃类含量介于79.24%~99.81%之间,天然气比重介于0.72~1.36之间,天然气干燥系数（C1/C2+）介于1.04~617.8之间,甲烷C同位素值介于-51.4‰~-24.2‰之间,乙烷C同位素值介于-34.2‰~-17.4‰之间。在此基础上,对该区不同构造带的天然气成因类型进行研究。研究结果表明,柴达木盆地西部地区天然气类型可划分为腐泥型气、腐殖型气、混合气3类,柴西北部天然气主要为腐泥型气和混合气,少量腐殖型气;柴西南部主要为腐泥型气,少量混合气。同时,建立了天然气成因类型的判识指标,对该区的天然气地球化学特征有了较为深入的认识,对今后的天然气勘探具有指导意义。     

Activated sludge acclimation for toluene and DEHP degradation in a two-phase partitioning bioreactor

The effect of activated sludge acclimation on the biodegradation of toluene in the presence of a biodegradable non-aqueous phase liquid, di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), in a two-phase partitioning bioreactor was characterized. The influence of the presence of DEHP, at a ratio of 0.1 % (volume ratio), and of the acclimation of activated sludge (AS) on the biodegradation of hydrophobic VOC was studied. AS was acclimated to both toluene and DEHP simultaneously. Using acclimated cells, 73 and 96 % improvement of the mean biodegradation rates was recorded for toluene and the organic solvent (DEHP), respectively, if compared to the values recorded in the absence of acclimation, during tests performed in Erlenmeyer flasks. Degradation rates were further improved by the use of acclimated AS in a reactor with a large head space; degradation yields for toluene and DEHP were above 99 and 89 %, respectively.     

Assessment on characteristics of LUCC process based on complex network in Modern Yellow River Delta,Shandong Province of China

Research on land use cover change (LUCC) has reached a mature stage and has formed a relatively complete scientific system. However, most studies analyzed the LUCC process from the view of land use types ignoring the integrality and systematicness of the land use system, which brought certain constraints to understanding the complexity and systematicness of land use process scientifically. Using the Modern Yellow River Delta (MYRD) of China as the study area, this research introduced the complex network analysis method to the study of the LUCC process by using 9 periods of land use data between 1976 and 2014 to build 8 stages of complex networks. The values of node degree, betweenness, changing proportions, and average shortest path in the networks were calculated to identify the key land use types, changing models of land use types, and the stability of land use system. Additionally, main parts of complex networks of the period from 1976 to 1995 and the period from 1995 to 2014 were selected to evaluate the changing characteristics of the LUCC process. The results indicated the area and proportion of natural wetland kept reducing, but the area and proportion of artificial wetland or non-wetland continued rising. The bare land, reed, bush, and cultivated land were the key land use types of the LUCC process. In the past 38 years, beach, bare land, reed and bush had been the output types, and the building land and salt pan had been the input types. The LUCC process has been a transfer process of natural wetland to artificial wetland and non-wetland in the past 38 years, which could be divided into land accretion process (1976 to 1995) and construction process (1995 to 2014). The land ecosystem was unstable for the period from 1990 to 2006.     

Nonparametric Estimation of Undrained Shear Strength for Normally Consolidated Clays

For decades, various well-known empirical correlations have been established and commonly used to estimate the undrained shear strength of normally consolidated clays in geotechnical practice. However, there are still many contradictory cases regarding the validity of these correlations, so their applicability and reliability are questionable. In this study, an extensive geotechnical database for normally consolidated clays has been compiled. Next, a Bayesian nonparametric method is exploited to identify the most critical soil index properties in inferring the undrained shear strength and a new predictive model is proposed. Finally, the performance of the proposed predictive model is assessed and compared with two well-known correlations using an independent testing database. It confirms that the proposed model not only possesses high predictability, but also provides superior performance over other existing empirical correlations.     

包气带反硝化强度空间分布规律的整合分析

依据1970~2017年间发表的3955篇包气带反硝化强度相关论文,筛选出197组反硝化强度数据,利用整合分析,重点研究了包气带反硝化强度在典型生态类型（水平）和不同采样深度（垂向）的空间分布规律,识别了包气带反硝化强度的主控因素并研究其函数关系。结果表明:水平空间上,包气带表层0~0.5 m反硝化强度的分布特征显著,由大到小排序为:森林（8.03±0.21 mg/（kg·d））、农田（3.54±0.08 mg/（kg·d））、草地（3.38±0.12 mg/（kg·d））、湿地（2.32±0.23 mg/（kg·d））、沙漠（2.15±0.56 mg/（kg·d））。垂向空间上（6 m内）,各生态类型反硝化强度随深度的增加均呈“S”型变化规律。不同生态类型和不同采样深度下包气带反硝化强度的主控因素存在一定差异,主要为黏粒、有机质、全氮、硝态氮、有效磷,并给出了包气带反硝化强度与主控因素的回归方程。     

北京西北城区一次重污染过程中PM10的氧化损伤能力研究

为评估大气重污染期间北京市可吸入颗粒物(PM_(10))的毒性,采集2016年3月份一次大气重污染过程中北京市大气PM_(10)样品,应用质粒DNA损伤评价法来研究其氧化损伤能力。结果表明,雾霾期间PM_(10)对DNA的损伤率高于雾霾逐渐消退时期,远高于雾霾前期清洁天,颗粒物对DNA损伤率随剂量的增加而增加。雾霾前后PM_(10)水溶样品的平均TD_(20)值表现为雾霾前清洁天(788.01μg/mL)雾霾消退后期(470.40μg/mL)雾霾期间(55.78μg/mL),说明氧化能力雾霾期间雾霾消退后期雾霾前清洁天。另外通过雾霾前后数据对比得到,暴露毒性指数TI大小顺序为雾霾期间(13 245.06)雾霾消退后期(1 658.87)雾霾前清洁天(254.08),说明雾霾期间PM_(10)对人体危害更大。     

Petrography of Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous sandstones in the Kutch Basin,western India:Implications on provenance and basin evolution

This paper investigates the provenance of Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous sediments in the Kutch Basin, western India, on the basis of mineralogical investigations of sandstones composition(Quartz-Feldspar-Lithic(QFL)fragment), Zircon-Tourmaline-Rutile(ZTR) index, and mineral chemistry of heavy detrital minerals of the framework.The study also examines the compositional variation of the sandstone in relation to the evolution of the Kutch Basin, which originated as a rift basin during the Late Triassic and evolved into a passive margin basin by the end Cretaceous. This study analyzes sandstone samples of Jhumara, Jhuran and Bhuj Formations of Middle Jurassic,Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous, respectively, in the Kutch Mainland. Sandstones record a compositional evolution from arkosic to subarkosic as the feldspar content decreases from 68% in the Jhumara Formation to 27%in the Bhuj Formation with intermediate values in the Jhuran Formation. The QFL modal composition indicates basement uplifted and transitional continental settings at source. Heavy mineral content of these sandstones reveals the occurrence of zircon, tourmaline, rutile, garnet, apatite, monazite and opaque minerals. Sub-rounded to well-rounded zircon grains indicate a polycyclic origin. ZTR indices for samples in Jhumara, Jhuran and Bhuj Formations are 25%, 30% and 50% respectively. Chemistry of opaque minerals reveals the occurrence of detrital varieties such as ilmenite, rutile, hematite/magnetite and pyrite, in a decreasing order of abundances. Chemistry of ilmenites in the Jhumara Formation reveals its derivation from dual felsic igneous and metabasic source, while those in Jhuran and Bhuj Formations indicate a metabasic derivation. Chemistry of garnet reveals predominantly Fe-rich(almandine) variety of metabasic origin. X-ray microscopic study provides the percentage of heavy minerals ranging from 3% to 5.26%. QFL detrital modes reflect the evolution of the basin from an active rift to a passive margin basin during the Mesozoic. Integration of results from QFL modal composition of the sandstones, heavy mineral analysis and mineral chemistry, suggests sediment supply from both northern and eastern highlands during the Middle Jurassic. The uplift along the Kutch Mainland Fault in the Early Cretaceous results in curtailment of sediment input from north.     

Identifying influence areas with connectivity analysis – application to the local perturbation of heterogeneity distribution for history matching

Numerical representations of a target reservoir can help to assess the potential of different development plans. To be as predictive as possible, these representations or models must reproduce the data (static, dynamic) collected on the field. However, constraining reservoir models to dynamic data – the history-matching process – can be very time consuming. Many uncertain parameters need to be taken into account, such as the spatial distribution of petrophysical properties. This distribution is mostly unknown and usually represented by millions of values populating the reservoir grid. Dedicated parameterization techniques make it possible to investigate many spatial distributions from a small number of parameters. The efficiency of the matching process can be improved from the perturbation of specific regions of the reservoir. Distinct approaches can be considered to define such regions. For instance, one can refer to streamlines. The leading idea is to identify areas that influence the production behavior where the data are poorly reproduced. Here, we propose alternative methods based on connectivity analysis to easily provide approximate influence areas for any fluid-flow simulation. The reservoir is viewed as a set of nodes connected by weighted links that characterize the distance between two nodes. The path between nodes (or grid blocks) with the lowest cumulative weight yields an approximate flow path used to define influence areas. The potential of the approach is demonstrated on the basis of 2D synthetic cases for the joint integration of production and 4D saturation data, considering several formulations for the weights attributed to the links.     

Pico- and Nanophytoplankton Dynamics in Two Coupled but Contrasting Coastal Bays in the NW Mediterranean Sea (France)

Due to its ecological context, the Toulon bay represents a site of scientific interest to study temporal plankton distribution, particularly pico- and nanophytoplankton dynamics. A monthly monitoring was performed during a two-year cycle (October 2013–December 2015) at two coupled sampling sites, referred to as Little and Large bays, which had different morphometric characteristics and human pressures. Flow cytometry analyses highlighted the fact that pico- and nanophytoplankton were more abundant in the eutrophic Little bay. Furthermore, it evidenced two community structures across the Toulon bays: at times, a co-dominance of picoeukaryotes, nanoeukaryotes, Synechococcus 1-like cells and Prochlorococcus-like cells was found, and at other times, a Synechococcus 1-like dominated community existed. The alternation of one structure or the other can be explained by a combined action of temperature regime, nutrient conditions and degree of contamination. This study showed that pico- and nanophytoplankton dynamics were mainly driven by temperature in both sites, as in other temperate Mediterranean regions. Thus, the community was mainly composed of picoeukaryotes and Prochlorococcus-like cells in the winter (<?15 °C), while it was dominated by Synechococcus 1-like cells in the summer (>?20 °C). Additionally, the multiple human stressors in the Little bay seemed to affect the increase in abundance of Synechococcus 1-like cells as they were preferentially observed in the Large bay.