尼日尔三角洲东部深水区构造特征及其形成机理

研究尼日尔三角洲东部深水区块发现，整个盆地从陆向洋具有3个大的构造分区：伸展拉张区、过渡区和挤压逆冲区。伸展区以大型同沉积断层伴生大量滚动背斜构造为特征，过渡区发育大量泥底辟构造，挤压区以复杂的逆冲叠瓦构造为主。通过分析形成机理，揭示东部深水转换带上M研究区构造特征，按构造的演化特征将该区构造分为泥底辟型、冲断-泥底辟混合型、逆冲型3种类型，提出研究区内的圈闭主要以构造-岩性圈闭为主，为尼日尔三角洲盆地深水勘探提供新的理论指导。     

The 2019 Brumadinho tailings dam collapse: Possible cause and impacts of the worst human and environmental disaster in Brazil

On 25th January 2019, the tailings dam of the Brumadinho iron mine operated by Vale S/A failed catastrophically. The death toll stood at 259 and 11 people remained missing as of January 2020. This tragedy occurred three years after Mariana’s tailings dam rupture – the most significant tailing dam disaster in Brazilian history. Thus far, a systematic investigation on the cause and effect of the failure has yet to be conducted. Here, we use satellite-driven soil moisture index, multispectral high-resolution imagery and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) products to assess pre-disaster scenarios and the direct causes of the tailings dam collapse. A decreasing trend in the moisture content at the surface and the full evanescence of pond water through time (2011–2019) suggest that the water was gradually penetrating the fill downwards and caused the seepage erosion, saturating the tailings dam. Large-scale slumping of the dam (extensional failure) upon the rupture indicates that the materials of the fill were already saturated. InSAR measurements reveal a dramatic, up to 30 cm subsidence in the dam (at the rear part) within the past 12 months before the dam collapse, signifying that the sediments had been removed from the fill. Although the information on the resistance level of the tailings dam to infiltrations is not available, these pieces of evidence collectively indicate that the seepage erosion (piping) is the primary cause for the chronic weakening of the structure and, hence, the internal “liquefaction” condition. Upon the collapse, the fully saturated mud tailings flowed down the gentle slope area (3.13 × 10⁶ m²), where 73 % were originally covered by tree, grass or agricultural tracts. The toxic mud eventually reached the Paraopeba River after travelling 10 km, abruptly increasing the suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration and the toxic chemical elements in the river, immediately affecting the local livelihoods that depend on its water. The Paraopeba River is a major tributary of the San Francisco River, the second-longest river in Brazil reaching the Atlantic Ocean. We anticipate that the environmental repercussions of this toxic seepage will be felt throughout the entire basin, especially riverine communities located downstream.     

Impacts of confining pressure and safety thickness on water and mud inrush in weathered granite

Abstract

Due to the strong disintegration and water erosion of completely weathered granite, water and mud inrush disasters are apt to take place in this zone during underwater tunnel construction. The pore, compactness, seepage path length, fracture geometries and their interconnections for water and mud transfer are strongly influenced by confining pressure and waterproof-resistant slab safety thickness. In order to inspect the influence, a series of experiments based on a self-designed testing system and non-Darcy testing method were performed. The results indicated that the water and mud inrush evolution increased with the increase of confining pressure and decreased with the increase of safety thickness. In particular, the confining pressure mainly influences the initial evolution stage, and a critical safety thickness to prevent water and mud inrush is obtained. Besides, the non-Darcy testing method results shows that the water and mud inrush evolution affects the influence of non-Darcy flow. For example, while the safety thickness was smaller than the critical value, the evolution was large and unstable and its behavior transferred into nonlinear. In this case, the flow changed to non-Darcy flow.     

Thresholds of intrabed flow and other interactions of turbidity currents with soft muddy substrates

Controlled laboratory experiments reveal that the lower part of turbidity currents has the ability to enter fluid mud substrates, if the bed shear stress is higher than the yield stress of the fluid mud and the density of the turbidity current is higher than the density of the substrate. Upon entering the substrate, the turbidity current either induces mixing between flow‐derived sediment and substrate sediment, or it forms a stable horizontal flow front inside the fluid mud. Such ‘intrabed’ flow is surrounded by plastically deformed mud; otherwise it resembles the front of a ‘bottom‐hugging’ turbidity current. The ‘suprabed’ portion of the turbidity current, i.e. the upper part of the flow that does not enter the substrate, is typically separated from the intrabed flow by a long horizontal layer of mud which originates from the mud that is swept over the top of the intrabed flow and then incorporated into the flow. The intrabed flow and the mixing mechanism are specific types of interaction between turbidity currents and muddy substrates that are part of a larger group of interactions, which also include bypass, deposition, erosion and soft sediment deformation. A classification scheme for these types of interactions is proposed, based on an excess bed shear stress parameter, which includes the difference in the bed shear stress imposed by the flow and the yield stress of the substrate and an excess density parameter, which relies on the density difference between the flow and the substrate. Based on this classification scheme, as well as on the sedimentological properties of the laboratory deposits, an existing facies model for intrabed turbidites is extended to the other types of interaction involving soft muddy substrates. The physical threshold of flow‐substrate mixing versus stable intrabed flow is defined using the gradient Richardson number, and this method is validated successfully with the laboratory data. The gradient Richardson number is also used to verify that stable intrabed flow is possible in natural turbidity currents, and to determine under which conditions intrabed flow is likely to be unstable. It appears that intrabed flow is likely only in natural turbidity currents with flow velocities well below ca 3·5 m s^?1, although a wider range of flows is capable of entering fluid muds. Below this threshold velocity, intrabed flow is stable only at high‐density gradients and low‐velocity gradients across the upper boundary of the turbidity current. Finally, the gradient Richardson number is used as a scaling parameter to set the flow velocity limits of a natural turbidity current that formed an inferred intrabed turbidite in the deep‐marine Aberystwyth Grits Group, West Wales, United Kingdom.     

油气上窜速度实用计算方法

油气上窜速度对钻井施工中下一步施工方案的制定具有重要参考价值。文章在总结分析前人经验的基础上结合现场施工实际对传统油气上窜速度计算公式加以修正,并对修正后的公式中涉及到的参数进行了逐一分析,在不影响正常施工工序的条件下使公式中各参数取值准确性进一步提高。通过现场工程测试,该方法简单实用且计算准确性较高。该计算方法在保证计算结果准确性的同时,也具备较强的现场可操作性,通过大量的实践检验后可进一步推广。     

若尔盖铀矿田漏失层空心微珠泥浆试验研究

若尔盖铀矿是我国四大基本类型铀矿田之一,矿层为灰岩、硅灰岩,圈团状纵向裂隙发育,长孔段失返性全漏失,泥浆性能难以维护,孔壁失稳,堵漏花费大量的人力、物力。为提高钻进效率,针对地层漏失机理,通过降低漏失压力实现平衡钻进,分别开展了空气泡沫、微泡沫泥浆以及空心微珠等低密度泥浆体系的研究和试验。实践表明,空心微珠低密度泥浆体系是一种适合若尔盖铀矿田漏失层钻进的泥浆体系。     

深部盐矿勘探钻井液研究与应用

ZK001井钻遇地层为大段泥岩,部分地层为页岩、含盐泥岩、盐膏层。在泥页岩地层进行大口径全面钻进,钻速较快,固控设备能力有限,引起钻屑中粘土颗粒重复性膨胀、软化及裂解分散,最终可能造成粘土侵,对井内安全造成威胁。深部岩膏层易溶于水,从而导致盐层蠕变、井径扩大、井壁失稳等问题。以ZK001井为例,通过优化钻井液体系及现场施工工艺,解决了地层强造浆、盐层失稳等问题。通过岩石力学测试、阳离子交换容量测试、钻井液体系优选及性能测试,确定了上部地层采用聚合物钻井液体系,下部含盐层取芯钻进转换为饱和盐水钻井液体系。通过选用合适的钻井液密度、粘度、切力量、滤失量、含盐量等指标,可以有效控制上部泥岩井壁稳定、含盐层蠕变、井径扩大的问题。钻进过程中钻井液性能稳定且易于维护,从而保证了钻进工作安全、高效、顺利的进行。     

Unconsolidated sediment distribution patterns in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight,South Africa: the role of wave ravinement in separating relict versus active sediment populations

This paper examines the distribution of unconsolidated sediment in the KwaZulu-Natal Bight located along the east coast of South Africa. Results show that there is a general shelf-wide sediment distribution of coarser grain sizes between depths of 60 and 100?m, punctuated by a broad swathe of mud offshore of the Thukela River. Seasonal changes in sediment distribution patterns are small, being restricted to seaward fining on the inner shelf off the fluvial sources. Sediment distribution reflects a partitioning between sediment populations that are current- influenced and relict (palimpsest) populations associated with submerged shorelines. Wave ravinement during the deglacial transgression, the reworking of submerged shorelines during sea-level stillstands and, to a lesser extent, the Agulhas Current system, are the dominant controls on sediment distribution.     

基于广域电磁法的页岩气有利区预测——以渝东北巫山地区为例

渝东北巫山地区是重要的页岩气勘探远景区,勘探程度较低。本次研究以岩石物理和测井数据为基础,以广域电磁法为手段,开展该区的页岩气有利区评价。通过对地表样品及井孔电阻率测井资料的分析,揭示研究区目的层富有机质页岩层电阻率表现为明显低阻特征,与上覆下伏地层电性差异明显,表明本区分布的上奥陶统五峰—下志留统龙马溪组富有机质页岩具备开展电法勘探工作的物性条件。在对电磁资料处理解释的基础上,查明了重庆巫山地区"隆凹相间"的构造格局,断裂性质主要为逆断层;目的层上奥陶统五峰组—下志留统龙马溪组富有机质泥页岩连续稳定分布,低阻特征明显,埋深范围在800~4 800 m之间。综合考虑目的层页岩电阻率、极化率、埋深等因素,预测出页岩气有利区3个,区内富有机质页岩发育,页岩气勘探前景较好。     

南海南部陆缘地质流体类型及其油气成藏意义

南海南部陆缘蕴藏着非常丰富的油气资源。为了解南海南部陆缘流体活动系统以及与油气藏之间的关系,以高精度2D地震资料为基础,对南海南部陆缘流体活动系统的类型、地震反射特征、以及对油气成藏的意义开展了研究。在南海南部陆缘发现了多种流体活动系统,包括:泥底辟/泥火山、气烟囱、管状通道、与构造断层相关的流体活动系统。这些流体活动系统具有不同的地震反射特征,常常出现含气强振幅异常带、弱振幅杂乱反射带以及"下拉"或者"上拱"地震反射形态等流体活动系统的标志特征。流体活动系统受到构造运动和沉积因素的影响,并且与深部高温高压塑性流体密切相关,流体活动系统优先发育在地层薄弱部位。流体活动系统及所伴生的断裂和裂隙常常作为油气富集区的运输通道;并且流体活动系统所运移的强溶蚀性流体和深部热液流体有利于油气储层的形成,特别是对于碳酸盐岩储层的改造尤为明显。因此,流体活动系统不仅能作为油气运移通道,也可以改善储层,对油气成藏具有重要意义。