Tracing groundwater flow and sources of organic carbon in sandstone aquifers using fluorescence properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM)

The fluorescence properties of groundwaters from sites in two UK aquifers, the Penrith Sandstone of Cumbria and the Sherwood Sandstone of South Yorkshire, were investigated using excitation–emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy. Both aquifers are regionally important sources of public supply water and are locally impacted by pollution. The Penrith Sandstone site is in a rural setting while the Sherwood Sandstone site is in suburban Doncaster. Fluorescence analysis of samples from discrete sample depths in the Penrith Sandstone shows decreasing fulvic-like intensities with depth and also shows a good correlation with CFC-12, an anthropogenic groundwater tracer. Tryptophan-like fluorescence centres in the depth profile may also provide evidence of rapid routing of relatively recent applications of organic slurry along fractures. Fluorescence analysis of groundwater sampled from multi-level piezometers installed within the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer also shows regions of tryptophan-like and relatively higher fulvic-like signatures. The fluorescence intensity profile in the piezometers shows tryptophan-like peaks at depths in excess of 50 m and mirrors the pattern exhibited by microbial species and CFCs highlighting the deep and rapid penetration of modern recharge due to rapid fracture flow. Fluorescence analysis has allowed the rapid assessment of different types and relative abundances of dissolved organic matter (DOM), and the fingerprinting of different sources of organic C within the groundwater system. The tryptophan:fulvic ratios found in the Penrith Sandstone were found to be between 0.5 and 3.0 and are characteristic of ratios from sheep waste sources. The Sherwood Sandstone has the lowest ratios (0.2–0.4) indicating a different source of DOM, most likely a mixture of terrestrial and microbial sources, although there is little evidence of pollution from leaking urban sewage systems. Results from these two studies suggest that intrinsic fluorescence may be used as a proxy for, or complementary tool to, other groundwater investigation methods in helping provide a conceptual model of groundwater flow and identifying different sources of DOM within the groundwater system.     

The correlation and sequence architecture of the Ormskirk Sandstone Formation in the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group of the East Irish Sea Basin,NW England

The existing stratigraphic nomenclature applied to the Early and Middle Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group in NW England has resulted from more than 150 years of geological investigation, but is characterized by a lithostratigraphic system that is insufficiently flexible to allow for variations in lithology and sedimentary facies within a continental depositional system. A revised well correlation based on the detrital mineralogical and chemical composition of the Ormskirk Sandstone Formation in four offshore wells, that is then extended to provide near‐basin‐wide well correlations using a regional shale marker, confirms previously suggested but unproven diachroneity at the top of the Sherwood Sandstone Group. It also reveals the presence of incised valleys filled by stacked amalgamated fluvial channel sandstones and cut into previously deposited aeolian and sandflat sequences as well as older fluvial channel sandstones. The combination of well correlations indicates that the valleys were incised by a fluvial system flowing NW from the Cheshire Basin into the East Irish Sea Basin and then west towards the Peel and Kish Bank basins. The stratal geometry of the upper part of the Sherwood Sandstone Group is suggested to conform to models of climatically mediated alternations of fluvial degradation and aggradation in response to changes in the relationship between sediment flux and stream discharge. This model is supported in the Sherwood Sandstone Group by climatically driven variations in the non‐channelized facies which record upward wetting and drying cycles that can be locally tied to fluvial incision surfaces, and suggest a hierarchy of at least three levels of climatic cyclicity recorded within the sedimentary succession. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rifts,rivers and climate recovery: A new model for the Triassic of England

Triassic basins of England developed under a regime of largely W–E extension and progressed from non-marine fluvial and aeolian sedimentation (Sherwood Sandstone Group), through marine-influenced playa lacustrine deposits (Mercia Mudstone Group) to marine environments (Penarth Group). A new tectono-stratigraphic model for the Sherwood Sandstone Group is proposed in which two major long-distance river systems developed under conditions of relative fault inactivity in the Early Triassic (Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds and equivalent) and Middle Triassic (Otter Sandstone and equivalent). These are separated by a late Early Triassic syn-rift succession of fluvio–aeolian sandstones (Wildmoor Sandstone and Wilmslow Sandstone formations) and playa lacustrine muds (Nettlecombe Formation) which show major thickness variation and localisation with hanging wall basins. The partitioning of syn-rift deposits into mudstones within upstream basins (close to the source of water and sediment) and clean aeolian or fluvio–aeolian sandstones in downstream basins is similar to the pattern observed in the underlying late Permian. Under conditions of rapid tectonic subsidence chains of extensional basins may become disconnected with upstream basins (Wessex Basin) acting as traps for fines and water permitting more aeolian activity in temporarily unlinked downstream basins (Worcester and Cheshire basins). In addition to tectonic controls, fluctuating climate, relief related to limestone resilience in arid settings, the smoothing effect of fill and spill sedimentation and Tethyan sea-level change all contributed toward the observed Triassic stratigraphy in England.     

The geology of the Morecambe gas field

The subsurface of the Irish Sea contains one of the United Kingdom's most important gas fields, the Morecambe Field, owned by British Gas. Approximately 10% of the UK's daily consumption of natural gas will be supplied by this giant accumulation trapped within fluvial deposits of the Lower Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Formation.     

Compound quartz and feldspar overgrowths from the Helsby Formation (Triassic) of Cheshire,northwest England

A polycrystalline grain of granitic composition with compound feldspar and quartz overgrowths is described from the continental Helsby Sandstone Formation (Triassic; Sherwood Sandstone Group) of the Cheshire Basin, northwest England. Overgrown phases, as seen by thin section and scanning electron microscopy, are in crystallographic continuity with respective components of the host grain and have mutual relationships which indicate the quartz to be the later diagenetic phase. Energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) of the grain surface and of the earlier formed overgrowths indicates the feldspar to have a potassium aluminosilicate composition which is in accordance with the adularia-habit crystal form of the authigenic phase.     

Fracture flow modelling based on satellite images of the Wajid Sandstone, Saudi Arabia

Large-scale geological features have been identified by satellite imagery and global positioning system data in the Wajid Sandstone in Saudi Arabia. The main objective is to evaluate the importance of fractures for the overall flow behaviour in this fractured rock aquifer and to estimate in-situ hydraulic apertures. Data on fractures and lineaments were available for three outcrops. By applying a “cut-out” routine on the fracture endpoint data of these fracture trace windows, three deterministic discrete fracture networks (DFN), with an area of 100 m?×?100 m, could be generated. These were used to simulate the fracture flow and to determine the hydraulic conductivity tensors. Using additional data on hydraulic pumping tests and matrix conductivities, in-situ hydraulic apertures could be determined. Average in-situ hydraulic apertures range from 1,300 to 1,700 µm. Observations from the field support these results. In addition, a hydraulic conductivity ratio between the matrix and fracture system was used to identify the contribution of the DFN to the overall fluid transport. A ratio of 10.4 was determined, which indicates that the effective flow behaviour in the Wajid Sandstone aquifer is not entirely dominated by the fracture system, though evidently strongly controlled by it.     

Nonaqueous liquid pool dissolution in three-dimensional heterogeneous subsurface formations

A three-dimensional numerical flow and contaminant transport model is developed to investigate the effect of variable hydraulic conductivity on average mass transfer coefficients associated with the dissolution of dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) pools in heterogeneous, water-saturated subsurface formations. Randomly generated, three-dimensional hydraulic conductivity fields are used to represent a heterogeneous confined aquifer. Model simulations indicate that the average mass transfer coefficient is inversely proportional to the variance of the log-transformed hydraulic conductivity. A power law correlation relating the Sherwood number to the variance of the log-transformed hydraulic conductivity and appropriate Peclet numbers is developed. A reasonable fit between predicted and numerically determined mass transfer coefficients is observed.     

The generation of soil over sandstones in a periglacial environment

The work examines the chemical and physical processes that are likely to have contributed to forming the soil thickness across the Sherwood Sandstone outcrop in Nottinghamshire, England, UK. The similarity in the extent of chemical weathering across the interface of the loosely compacted sand that forms the soil and regolith and the non-durable rock underneath suggests that physical weathering processes are required as the final part of the weathering process, essential to breaking the clay cement that maintains the structural integrity of the non-durable rock. With prior knowledge that the outcrop was the input point for water currently in the aquifer with ages between 10 and 35,000 a, periglacial processes such as ‘frost cracking’ and ‘active zone development’ are considered major influences on soil thickness.     

油气充注对塔中志留系沥青砂岩储集性影响的模拟实验研究

志留系储层原油演化成沥青过程中，沥青充填于粒间孔及填隙物中，占据了孔隙空间，残余孔隙率、渗透率很低。通过模拟实验的方法分析了油气充注对沥青砂岩储集性的影响，早期充填沥青少而残余孔隙率、渗透率很低的砂岩，晚期油气仍不能充注，是非储层；早期沥青均匀充填、充填程度高，残余孔隙率、渗透率低的砂岩，晚期低粘度稀油仍能充注，孔隙率、渗透率有大幅度提高，是有效储层；早期沥青充填较均匀，残余孔隙率相对较高，不同粘度的原油充注后，孔渗条件发生明显的改善。常温的实验表明，原油的物理性质是决定沥青砂岩能否再次充注的关键因素之一，稀油充注是志留系沥青砂岩成藏的必要条件。     

Thin section and S.E.M. textural criteria for the recognition of cement-dissolution porosity in sandstones

Cement-porosity relationships are described from the Lower Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group and the Middle Jurassic Ravenscar Group in the United Kingdom. Calcite cemented sandstones display a variety of replacement textures, with preferential replacement of grains and of overgrowth faces with high free-surface energy. Dolomite and siderite cemented sandstones display similar textures but replacement is less specific and euhedral overgrowth surfaces are commonly embayed by carbonates. Examination of the more porous sandstones with the scanning electron microscope reveals a range of pitting and embayment textures in authigenic overgrowths and in detrital grains. These range from small ‘v’-shaped notches and pits, through regular and irregular shaped embayments, into large depressions. These textures appear to be morphologically similar to the quartz surfaces seen in thin sections of carbonate cemented sandstones, and are interpreted to have been formed by the dissolution of pore-filling and grain replacive authigenic carbonates. This is confirmed by examination of experimentally exhumed overgrowth surfaces from carbonate cemented sandstones. These textures indicate that part of the intergranular porosity in these sediments is secondary in origin, and has been generated by the dissolution of carbonate cements. The identification of such textures may lead to a more confident interpretation of the nature of intergranular porosity in the subsurface.     

论塔里木盆地“东河砂岩”的地质时代

系统总结了关于近年来塔里木盆地重要储油层——“东河砂岩”年代研究所取得的主要进展 ,包括 1)“东河砂岩”中发现晚泥盆世孢子和胴甲鱼化石 ;　 2 )含砾砂岩段发现晚泥盆世盾皮鱼化石 ;　 3)下泥岩段下部发现晚泥盆世孢子 ;　 4 )下泥岩段上部和生屑灰岩段分别发现石炭纪初期第一、二孢子组合带 ;　 5 )生屑灰岩段发现石炭纪初期的牙形刺 ;　 6 )化学 -生物地层学研究结果指示 ,泥盆系 -石炭系界线应在“东河砂岩”顶面之上。据此 ,“东河砂岩”的时代应为泥盆纪。     

Phanerozoic stratigraphy and structure of the northern Barrier Ranges,western New South Wales

Devonian strata near Fowlers Gap and Nundooka Stations, northern Barrier Ranges comprise ～2.7 km of sparsely fossiliferous, fluvially deposited sandstones (Mulga Downs Group). These strata are subdivided into the Coco Range Sandstone (oldest, Emsian‐Eifelian) found west of the north‐trending Nundooka Creek Fault, and the Nundooka Sandstone (youngest, ?Frasnian‐Famennian found east of the fault). Eleven stratigraphic units are mapped and two of these in the Coco Range Sandstone are formally named as The Valley Tank Arenite and Copi Dam Arenite Members. The Coco Range Sandstone and Nundooka Sandstone are tentatively correlated with strata in the Bancannia Trough. Deposition of the Coco Range Sandstone and Nundooka Sandstone was, however, separate from that of the Bancannia Trough, probably due to topographic highs which occurred east of the Western Boundary Fault.

The Coco Range Sandstone is cut by northeast‐trending faults splaying from the Nundooka Creek Fault. These faults have vertical planes and are thought to predate deposition of the Nundooka Sandstone. In the Late Cretaceous the Nundooka Creek and Western Boundary Faults became active and areas west of these faults were uplifted to form Coco Range and Bald Hill. This fossil landscape was progressively buried by deposition of the Palaeocene‐Eocene Eyre Formation until it was half covered by strata. During the Oligocene silcrete of the Cordillo Surface formed and was overlain conformably by the sandy Doonbara Formation (Miocene). Since the Miocene, much of the Eyre Formation has been removed by erosion to exhume a Late Cretaceous landscape. Subsequently in the ?Pliocene there was some faulting along the Nundooka Creek and Western Boundary Faults because locally the Cordillo Surface and the Doonbara Formation dip toward the faults at 30–72°. At three localities there is evidence of probable Quaternary activity on the Nundooka Creek and the Western Boundary Faults (downthrow to the east) suggesting a different style of tectonics from that in the Miocene.     

塔里木盆地上泥盆统一下石炭统东河砂岩沉积相与哈得逊油田的发现

哈得逊油田是塔里木盆地最大的整装油田之一,储量规模超过亿吨.在其发现过程中,东河砂岩的沉积相及其相变规律起了重要的指导作用.东河砂岩为晚泥盆世晚期至早石炭世早期海侵背景下沉积的一套海侵砂(砾)岩,主体为滨岸海滩相砂体,在全盆地范围内是一个明显的穿时沉积体.东河砂岩从古地貌低部位向高部位持续超覆变薄,以陆源碎屑滨岸-浅海...     

Methods for the calculation of true formation factors in the bunter sandstone of northwest england

A laboratory investigation of the electrical properties of the Bunter Sandstone from the Fylde area of northwest Lancashire has demonstrated that measured values of the formation factor exhibit a marked variation with the concentration of the saturating electrolyte, presumably as a result of the conducting influences of the rock matrix. The method of least squares is used to represent this variation in terms of specified first- and second-order equations. From these expressions a true formation factor can be calculated. The field application of this parameter in hydrogeological studies of these sandstones is briefly discussed and exemplified.     

Ichnology and Depositional Environment of the Cambrian Nagaur Sandstone (Nagaur Group) Along the Dulmera Section,Bikaner-Nagaur Basin,Rajasthan

Abstract: The Lower Cambrian Nagaur Sandstone (Marwar Supergroup) has yielded trace fossils Treptichnus, Cruziana, serially repeated Rusophycus, Diplichnites, Monomorphichnus, Bergaueria, arthropod swimming traces and leap frogging marks of Cruziana ichnofacies. This ichnofossils assemblage is dominantly preserved in fine to medium grained red sandstone beds of the Mohra Member (Nagaur Sandstone). The presence of graded rip-up clasts, current ripples, dune cross-stratification with mud drapes and tidal bundles indicates a subtidal paleoenvironment for the deposition of Nagaur Sandstone Formation, which is corroborated by the Cruziana ichnofacies trace fossil assemblage.     

A Pliocene mega-tsunami deposit and associated features in the Ranquil Formation,southern Chile

An exceptionally large tsunami affected the coastline of southern Chile during the Pliocene. Its backflow eroded coarse beach and coastal dune sediments and redistributed them over the continental shelf and slope. Sandstone dykes and sills injected from the base of the resulting hyperconcentrated flow into underlying cohesive muds, assisted in plucking up large blocks of the latter and incorporating them into the flow. Locally, the rip-up intraclasts were fragmented further by smaller-scale injections to form a distinct breccia of angular to rounded mudstone clasts within a medium to coarse sandstone matrix. Sandstone sills in places mimic normal sedimentary beds, complete with structures resembling inverse gradation, planar laminae, as well as ripple and trough cross-lamination. These were probably formed by internal sediment flow and shear stress as the semi-liquefied sand was forcefully injected into cracks. In borehole cores, such sills can easily be misinterpreted as normal sedimentary beds, which can have important implications for hydrocarbon exploration.     

Use of seasonal trend decomposition to understand groundwater behaviour in the Permo-Triassic Sandstone aquifer,Eden Valley,UK

The daily groundwater level (GWL) response in the Permo-Triassic Sandstone aquifers in the Eden Valley, England (UK), has been studied using the seasonal trend decomposition by LOESS (STL) technique. The hydrographs from 18 boreholes in the Permo-Triassic Sandstone were decomposed into three components: seasonality, general trend and remainder. The decomposition was analysed first visually, then using tools involving a variance ratio, time-series hierarchical clustering and correlation analysis. Differences and similarities in decomposition pattern were explained using the physical and hydrogeological information associated with each borehole. The Penrith Sandstone exhibits vertical and horizontal heterogeneity, whereas the more homogeneous St Bees Sandstone groundwater hydrographs characterize a well-identified seasonality; however, exceptions can be identified. A stronger trend component is obtained in the silicified parts of the northern Penrith Sandstone, while the southern Penrith, containing Brockram (breccias) Formation, shows a greater relative variability of the seasonal component. Other boreholes drilled as shallow/deep pairs show differences in responses, revealing the potential vertical heterogeneities within the Penrith Sandstone. The differences in bedrock characteristics between and within the Penrith and St Bees Sandstone formations appear to influence the GWL response. The de-seasonalized and de-trended GWL time series were then used to characterize the response, for example in terms of memory effect (autocorrelation analysis). By applying the STL method, it is possible to analyse GWL hydrographs leading to better conceptual understanding of the groundwater flow. Thus, variation in groundwater response can be used to gain insight into the aquifer physical properties and understand differences in groundwater behaviour.     

塔里木盆地晚泥盆世-早石炭世东河砂岩沉积相

东河砂岩是塔里木盆地主要的勘探目的层和产油层之一。经过多年艰苦勘探和多学科综合研究,现已认识到东河砂岩为晚泥盆世晚期至早石炭世早期海平面上升背景下沉积的一套海侵底砂（砾）岩,在盆地范围内是一个明显的穿时沉积体。东河砂岩以滨浅海相陆源碎屑沉积占优势,局部发育海陆过渡相陆源碎屑沉积。根据盆地内100多口井资料的岩石学特征、沉积特征以及其它指相标志的综合分析,在东河砂岩中识别出滨岸、河口湾、辫状河三角洲以及冲积扇等不同的沉积相类型,其中高能碎屑滨岸相最重要,分布最广。东河砂岩沉积早期和中期,盆地主要为高能碎屑滨岸相和碎屑陆棚相沉积,末期海侵达到最大,盆地内为碳酸盐台地沉积,而轮南及盆地北部一带受物源区的影响,出现混积滨岸和碎屑滨岸沉积。东河砂岩明显具有填平补齐的沉积特征,其砂体厚度在缓坡处减薄、陡坡处增厚、遇孤岛减薄或尖灭,这些沉积特征为形成东河砂岩非构造圈闭奠定了良好的地质基础。满加尔、轮南、塔中、玛扎塔格以及草湖地区都有可能找到该类油气藏（田）,展示了东河砂岩非构造圈闭的良好勘探前景。     

Lithostratigraphy and depositional environment of the Permian Nowra Sandstone in the southwestern Sydney Basin,Australia

Lithofacies in the mid‐Permian Nowra Sandstone indicate a middle/upper shoreface to foreshore environment of deposition under the influence of storm‐generated waves and north‐northeasterly directed longshore currents. Palaeogeographic reconstruction for the Nowra Sandstone portrays a sand‐dominated high energy shelf and offshore shoal forming a sequence thickening seaward away from the western shore of the Sydney Basin. The shoal‐crest at the outer edge of the shelf trends north‐northeast. It is characterized by fine‐ to medium‐grained sandstone with upper flow regime structures and a high proportion of conglomerate, whereas coarser sandstone with lower energy bedforms occurs along the seaward side of the shoal. In the deeper water to the east, the lower Nowra Sandstone becomes rapidly thinner as it passes seaward, via bioturbated storm redeposited sandstone beds, into the shelf deposits of the Wandrawandian Siltstone. This sequence accumulated during a regressive event and the base of the formation becomes progressively younger eastward. The sand may have been supplied by rivers along the western coast but the major source was south of the study area. The lower Nowra Sandstone is separated from the upper part of the formation by an extensive ravinement surface overlain by the Purnoo Conglomerate Member. In contrast to the lower unit, the upper Nowra Sandstone forms a westward thickening wedge that represents a backstepping nearshore sand facies that accumulated during a transgression. The upper Nowra Sandstone passes vertically and laterally eastward into the Berry Siltstone. Thus both boundaries of the Nowra Sandstone are diachronous, first younging eastward and then westward as a response to a regressive‐transgressive episode.