Global Exploration Models for Polymetallic Sulphides in the Area: An Assessment of Lease Block Selection under the Draft Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Sulphides

Draft regulations for prospecting and exploration of polymetallic sulphides in the “Area” are currently being considered for implementation by the International Seabed Authority. This paper examines possible models for allocation of lease blocks for exploration and the proposed schedule for relinquishing blocks during the exploration phase. One model for granting of exploration licenses under the proposed regulations involves contiguous lease blocks, similar to that being considered for nodules and crusts; another model involves non-contiguous blocks. An analysis of the occurrence and distribution of known polymetallic sulphides in 32 training areas shows that the regulations for prospecting and exploration of crusts likely cannot be applied equally to polymetallic sulphides.     

Seamount Characteristics and Mine-Site Model Applied to Exploration- and Mining-Lease-Block Selection for Cobalt-Rich Ferromanganese Crusts

Regulations are being developed through the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) for the exploration and mining of cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts. This paper lays out geologic and geomorphologic criteria that can be used to determine the size and number of exploration and mine-site blocks that will be the focus of much discussion within the ISBA Council deliberations. The surface areas of 155 volcanic edifices in the central equatorial Pacific were measured and used to develop a mine-site model. The mine-site model considers areas above 2,500 m water depth as permissive, and narrows the general area available for exploration and mining to 20% of that permissive area. It is calculated that about eighteen 100 km² exploration blocks, each composed of five 20 km² contiguous sub-blocks, would be adequate to identify a 260 km² 20-year-mine site; the mine site would be composed of thirteen of the 20 km² sub-blocks. In this hypothetical example, the 260 km² mine site would be spread over four volcanic edifices and comprise 3.7% of the permissive area of the four edifices and 0.01% of the total area of those four edifices. The eighteen 100 km² exploration blocks would be selected from a limited geographic area. That confinement area is defined as having a long dimension of not more than 1,000 km and an area of not more than 300,000 km².     

世界大洋金属矿产资源勘查开发现状及问题

世界大洋底蕴藏着丰富的金属矿产资源,其所含的锰、钴、镍、稀土等矿产是陆地含量的数十倍乃至数百倍或更高,因此是未来矿产资源的接替区。本文介绍了世界大洋多金属结核、富钴结壳、多金属硫化物及深海稀土等资源现状、分布及潜力,分析总结了21世纪以来国际海底区金属矿产勘查合同现状,并介绍了俄罗斯、巴布亚新几内亚、日本、中国等国家在其专属经济区内进行多金属结核、多金属硫化物开采实验的情况。由于世界大洋金属矿产资源丰富,潜力巨大,其勘查开发日益受到世界各国的重视,国际海底勘探合同不断增加,商业开发提上日程,但国际海底区的金属矿产资源开发仍面临技术、规章、环境等方面的制约和挑战。     

西太平洋Kocebu海山铁锰结壳稀土元素地球化学特征

西太平洋麦哲伦海山区是全球重要的铁锰结壳资源分布区,具有丰富的稀土元素资源潜力。本文对采自麦哲伦海山区Kocebu海山的11个铁锰结壳表层样（＜1 mm）进行稀土元素地球化学研究,探讨其含量特征、成因和影响稀土元素富集的环境因素。结果表明：Kocebu海山铁锰结壳表层样品ΣREY（Rare earth elements and yttrium）平均含量为1 366 mg/kg,低于前人在麦哲伦海山区其他海山以及邻近的马尔库斯–威克海山区的分析结果;样品轻稀土富集和Ce正异常（平均值为1.45）特征以及稀土元素成因图解、配分曲线和分配系数曲线等均表明该海山结壳属于水成成因;海水中稀土元素含量和溶解氧含量是控制结壳生长的关键环境参数,二者在Kocebu海山所在海区的浅水环境中含量较低;结壳ΣREY含量偏低与采样点水深较浅导致的海水稀土元素含量和溶解氧含量较低密切相关,受碎屑矿物的稀释作用影响较小。在开展铁锰结壳地球化学特征研究和资源勘探评价时应充分考虑采样水深的分布范围,局部水深样品的分析结果可能导致研究结果出现较大偏差。     

Comparison of the population structure and life-history parameters of Diplodus capensis (Sparidae) in exploited and unexploited areas of southern Angola

Blacktail seabream Diplodus capensis were sampled from proximate (10 km apart) exploited and unexploited areas in southern Angola to compare their population structures and life-history parameters. Females dominated the larger size and older age classes in the unexploited area. In the exploited area the length and age frequency distributions were more equitable, but there was a lack of large and old individuals in this area due to the selective nature of fishing gear. Growth zone deposition rate was validated as being annual using mark-recapture of chemically injected (oxytetracycline) fish. In the unexploited area, females attained larger sizes and greater ages than males; however, growth and longevity were more equitable between the sexes in the exploited area. Length- and age-at-50% maturity were similar between the sexes in both areas. The sex ratio was heavily female-skewed (1:4.7) in the unexploited area but less so in the exploited area (1:2.2). Although the growth curves were significantly different for fish between areas, this was likely due to a reduction in longevity rather than a physiological change in growth. The length- and age-at-50% maturity was also similar between areas, indicating that this species either does not have the ability to respond to exploitation through physiological change in these life-history characteristics, or that the current level of exploitation is not high enough to elicit such a response. However, the female dominance in the smallest size class in the exploited area (compared to the unexploited area) indicated that a threshold may have been reached, and that this species responds to exploitation by increasing the relative number of fish that mature as females.     

山东胜利油田海洋石油勘探开发现状及前景分析

胜利油田海上勘探区 ,位于渤海湾南部的极浅海海域 ,其范围为 :西起四女寺河口 ,经套儿河口、老黄河口、新黄河口、小青河口 ,东到潍河口 ,海岸长 4 1 4km,胜利矿产登记线内面积 4 870 km2 ,水深一般 0～ 5m,最深 1 8m。截止 2 0 0 0年年底 ,已完成二维地震 71 3 6.1 km,三维地震 1 588.58km2 ,完钻探井 1 0 2口 ,测井解释油气层井 87口 ,试油 85口 ,其中 74口获工业油流 ,6口获低产油流。发现了埕岛、埕北 3 0、新滩 3个油田 ,在明化镇组、馆陶组、东营组、沙河街组、中生界、上古生界、下古生界、太古界中发现了 8套含油层系 ,6种类型的油气藏 ,已探明含油面积 1 45.8km2 ,石油地质储量 3 860 9万 t;控制含油面积57.5km2 ,石油地质储量 894 8万 t,其中埕岛油田是渤海域发现最早的亿吨级油田 ,目前已建成 2 1 6万 t年生产能力 ,累积产油 1 0 57万 t。根据两轮资源评价及勘探实践的认识 ,与本区有关的 8个生油凹陷 (岐口、沙南、渤中、埕北、桩东、青东、莱州湾、潍北 )总资源量约 1 2 .0亿 t,目前已找到探明加控制石油地质储量为 4 .75亿 t,仍有较大的勘探开发潜力。今后将对 8个构造带 (埕子口、埕岛、埕北 3 0、长堤、垦东、青东、青坨子、潍北 )进行勘探 ,落实探明储量 ,进一步投入开发 ,为胜利油田     

南黄海盆地中、古生界地质特征及勘探方向

南黄海广泛发育海相中、古生界,资源量丰富,勘探潜力大,但一直未取得勘探突破。通过与上扬子四川盆地类比,最大的差异在于后期构造改造的强度不同。南黄海盆地遭受多期次强烈的后期改造,致使早期生成的油气被破坏和改造,不利于油气保存,在南黄海区内寻找构造相对稳定的区带,是南黄海盆地中、古生界取得油气突破的关键;综合南黄海残留地层分布、石油地质条件、构造变形特征等的研究结果,对南黄海中、古生界最具现实勘探意义的区域进行了优选,认为崂山隆起中南部弱变形区是南黄海中、古生界实现勘探突破最有利区带,下古生界是下一步重点的勘探层系。     

南沙曾母盆地地质构造特征与油气资源潜力

曾母盆地是南沙海域热点研究区域,为揭示该盆地油气资源潜力,依据曾母盆地地震剖面和钻井等资料,对曾母盆地的构造演化史和烃源岩进行综合分析。曾母盆地主要烃源岩为渐新统和中新统含有机质泥岩,通过排聚系数法对盆地的油气资源量作出估算,得出曾母盆地的油气当量为140.18×108 t,其中位于我国传统疆界内的有99.98×108 t。进一步根据盆地各亚区的构造特征和石油地质条件,将曾母盆地划分为3个不同等级的油气有利勘探区,其中南康台地和西部斜坡2个次级造单元为最有利勘探区。     

西非海岸盆地群油气勘探成果及勘探潜力分析

西非海岸盆地群包括塔尔法亚、塞内加尔、尼日尔三角洲、杜阿拉、里奥姆尼、加蓬、下刚果、宽扎、奥兰治、科特迪瓦、贝宁等11个主要沉积盆地,它们是冈瓦纳大陆裂解和中大西洋、南大西洋及赤道大西洋张开和漂移的结果,包括被动大陆边缘盆地和转换边缘盆地两种类型沉积盆地。通过利用IHS数据库资料,在系统总结西非海岸盆地群油气勘探成果基础上,划分其为早期勘探（1953年前）、储量快速增长（1954～1973年）、储量缓慢增长（1974～1994年）和深水勘探（1995年至今）四个油气勘探阶段,认为研究区油气发现主要与盆地勘探程度、油气勘探技术进步、资源国政治形势和全球经济有关;尼日尔三角洲和下刚果等重点盆地大油气田的发现直接推动了西非海岸盆地群油气储量和产量的增长;深水区是西非海岸盆地群今后寻找大发现的潜力区,而大陆架和陆上则是重点挖潜地区。     

Analysis of SRTM data as an aid to hydrocarbon exploration in a frontier area of the Amazonas Sedimentary Basin,northern Brazil

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) provided an unprecedented source of space-borne topographic information that has shown to be of particular interest for studies in densely vegetated tropical areas, such as Central Amazonia. The digital elevation models produced in that region show subtle details of the terrain that usually appear blurred in conventional remote sensing images. Interpretation of an SRTM-derived drainage network and geomorphometric features revealed several drainage anomalies, which are possibly the surface expression of buried morphostructural features. Integration with geological and geophysical ancillary data strongly suggested that interpreted features constitute potential structural sites for hydrocarbon exploration. However, due to their inferred nature, the structures herein identified are not by themselves a justification for drilling. However, they do provide information for planning seismic surveys, thus reducing costs of the exploration campaigns, as well as minimizing potential environmental impacts of such an enterprise in areas of tropical rain forests. Despite the relatively small size of the study area, it is expected that procedures presented in this paper can be successfully applied throughout the approximately 1,000,000 km² of sedimentary basins in the Brazilian Amazonian region.     

南海北部地球物理特征及地壳结构

为了研究南海地壳结构，中国和日本合作在南海北部首次进行了以炸药为震源的综合地球物理调查。经初步分析其地壳结构主要特征为：南海北部地壳分为沉积层、上地壳层、中地壳层及下地壳层。大陆架及上陆坡地壳厚度大、稳定。下陆坡地壳厚度除中地壳外，其他壳层厚度减薄且不稳定。深海盆地壳分３层，厚度虽薄但相对稳定，其底部缺失７．３ｋｍ·ｓ－１的高速层。测区内地壳总厚度：陆壳２６—３０ｋｍ，过渡壳１３—２２ｋｍ，洋壳为８ｋｍ。     

声学探测技术在富钴结壳勘探中的应用及展望

富钴结壳是深海固体矿产之一,其资源潜力巨大,已成为世界各国竞相调查的重要对象。声学探测技术作为一种海洋地球物理探测技术,因其在大面积调查和局部连续精细勘探方面的独特优势,在富钴结壳资源调查中得到了广泛应用。在搜集整理国内外相关文献的基础上,概述了富钴结壳的分布特征,分析传统勘探方法的不足,系统介绍多波束、侧扫声呐、浅地层剖面、原位高频测厚等声学探测技术在富钴结壳勘探中的应用现状。通过比较分析国内外声学探测技术发展现状以及未来富钴结壳勘探需求,提出3点未来发展趋势：开发一体化声学探测技术以实现海底特性的综合性测量;综合利用深海潜水器以实现近底高精度探测;深度融合大数据和人工智能技术以实现海量声学数据的智能化处理。     

Morphological Features of Co-Rich Manganese Deposits and Their Relation to Seabed Slopes

The morphological features associated with Co-rich manganese deposits, the size variations of nodules, and the occurrence of different substrates have been analyzed, to evaluate the influence of various seabed slope angles on the distribution of these features. The coverage and size of the crusts depend on their surface morphology and seabed topography, resulting in cobble-type, lineated, or step-like outcrops. Small nodules (1 - 4 cm in diameter) dominate all seabed slopes, with a few locations having nodules ranging from 1 to 8 or 1 to 10 cm. Sediments invariably occur as substrates for nodules and as cover for crusts, their coverage being inversely proportional to that of the nodules and crust outcrops. Steeper seafloor areas have large crust outcrops exposed with no or few nodules and sediments associated with them. The intermediate slopes have a combination of nodules, sediments, and crusts in various proportions, depending on topography and gradient. Large-scale nodule occurrences, followed by sediment fields and crust outcrops on seabed slopes of greater than 3 degrees, 3 - 7 degreees, and less than 15 degrees, respectively, represent typical morphological distribution zones of the Co-rich manganese deposits on a seamount in the central Pacific Ocean. A transition zone between nodule-dominated fields and large crust outcrops occurs for slopes from 7 degrees to 15 degrees. This detailed study on distribution of Co-rich deposits gives a better understanding for purposes of their exploitation.     

News from the seabed – Geological characteristics and resource potential of deep-sea mineral resources

Marine minerals such as manganese nodules, Co-rich ferromanganese crusts, and seafloor massive sulfides are commonly seen as possible future resources that could potentially add to the global raw materials supply. At present, a proper assessment of these resources is not possible due to a severe lack of information regarding their size, distribution, and composition. It is clear, however, that manganese nodules and Co-rich ferromanganese crusts are a vast resource and mining them could have a profound impact on global metal markets, whereas the global resource potential of seafloor massive sulfides appears to be small. These deep-sea mineral commodities are formed by very different geological processes resulting in deposits with distinctly different characteristics. The geological boundary conditions also determine the size of any future mining operations and the area that will be affected by mining. Similarly, the sizes of the most favorable areas that need to be explored for a global resource assessment are also dependent on the geological environment. Size reaches 38 million km² for manganese nodules, while those for Co-rich crusts (1.7 million km²) and massive sulfides (3.2 million km²) are much smaller. Moreover, different commodities are more abundant in some jurisdictions than in others. While only 19% of the favorable area for manganese nodules lies within the Exclusive Economic Zone of coastal states or is covered by proposals for the extension of the continental shelf, 42% of the favorable areas for massive sulfides and 54% for Co-rich crusts are located in EEZs.     

富钴结壳资源远景区圈定方法

提出了4种不同的富钴结壳资源远景区圈定方法,即水深法、工程间距外推法、网格微分法和综合法,对比了它们的优缺点,对同一研究区运用不同的方法圈定了不同的资源远景区并进行了资源评价,结果表明:这几种方法是层层递进、相辅相成的,水深法和工程间距外推法可以给出研究区资源远景的大致范围,网格微分法是圈定较为精确资源远景区的基础,但是,加入地质规律的综合法可以提供更接近真实情况的资源远景区。不同的方法适合不同的勘探程度和不同研究目的,并且有不同的精度。     

Morphological Features of Co-Rich Manganese Deposits and Their Relation to Seabed Slopes

Abstract

The morphological features associated with Co-rich manganese deposits, the size variations of nodules, and the occurrence of different substrates have been analyzed, to evaluate the influence of various seabed slope angles on the distribution of these features. The coverage and size of the crusts depend on their surface morphology and seabed topography, resulting in cobble-type, lineated, or step-like outcrops. Small nodules (1–4 cm in diameter) dominate all seabed slopes, with a few locations having nodules ranging from 1 to 8 or 1 to 10 cm. Sediments invariably occur as substrates for nodules and as cover for crusts, their coverage being inversely proportional to that of the nodules and crust outcrops.

Steeper seafloor areas have large crust outcrops exposed with no or few nodules and sediments associated with them. The intermediate slopes have a combination of nodules, sediments, and crusts in various proportions, depending on topography and gradient. Large-scale nodule occurrences, followed by sediment fields and crust outcrops on seabed slopes of < 3°, 3–7°, and > 15°, respectively, represent typical morphological distribution zones of the Co-rich manganese deposits on a seamount in the central Pacific Ocean. A transition zone between nodule-dominated fields and large crust outcrops occurs for slopes from 7° to 15°. This detailed study on distribution of Co-rich deposits gives a better understanding for purposes of their exploitation.     

全球三大洋海山钴结壳资源量估算

钴结壳具有Co、Ni、Cu和Mn及其他金属的潜在矿产资源和储存在结壳层中古环境信息的双重意义。与深海多金属结核和热液硫化物矿床相比,具有较高Co、Ni和Pt含量的海山钴结壳有可能成为商业勘探的潜在目标。为合理地估算出全球三大洋海山钴结壳资源量,基于我国西太平洋海山钴结壳拖网采样调查资料和对太平洋海山钴结壳资源分布规律和钴结壳矿区圈定参数指标的深入研究,按海山不同高度、不同洋壳年龄赋予不同结壳厚度,进而计算出全球三大洋海山钴结壳分布面积为3 039 452.14km2和干结壳资源量为(1 081.166 1~2 162.332 2)×108 t。太平洋海山钴结壳分布面积为2 123 087.12km2和干结壳资源量为(513.244~1 026.488)×108 t,大西洋海山钴结壳分布面积为512 509.74km2和干结壳资源量为(116.503 2~233.006 4)×108 t,印度洋海山钴结壳分布面积为403 855.28km2和干结壳资源量为(81.484 9~162.969 8)×108 t。三大洋海山钴结壳的Mn、Co、Ni和Cu金属量分别为(138.848 0~277.696 0)×108 t,(3.967 6~7.935 2)×108 t、(2.793 6~5.587 2)×108 t和(0.825 1~1.650 2)×108 t。根据钴结壳的Co含量、Co通量和厚度相关分析,所赋予的钴结壳厚度占理论推测厚度的6.10%~12.20%,这与Ku等得出"钴结壳生长时间约占其整个生命史4%"的认识非常相近。三大洋海山钴结壳实测厚度与赋值厚度对比分析表明,太平洋海山钴结壳赋值厚度平均值为1.87cm,实测厚度平均值为1.77cm,相对误差为5.35%,大西洋和印度洋相对误差分别为18.18%和23.23%。研究数据表明按海山高度和洋壳年龄所赋的钴结壳厚度基本合理,估算出的钴结壳资源量基本可靠。本文首次估算出三大洋海山钴结壳资源量,为整个海盆和三大洋海山钴结壳资源量估算提供了新方法。     

西太平洋Lamont海山中新世以来富钴结壳成矿环境的演化

分析了西太平洋Lamont海山12个站位33个富钴结壳样品的主元素和稀土元素,结果表明,该海山富钴结壳成因类型属于水成成因,并且在形成过程中基本未受到磷酸盐化作用的影响。Lamont海山的一个富钴结壳样品剖面的电子探针数据显示,该海山富钴结壳的成矿环境在新第三纪以来至少存在2个演化阶段:第1阶段,23~15 Ma,富钴结壳中Mn相对富集,成矿环境以富氧贫硅为特征;第2阶段,15~0 Ma,富钴结壳中Fe相对富集,成矿环境以贫氧富硅为特征。成矿环境的氧化能力总体上呈现下降的趋势。联系新生代世界大洋,尤其是西太平洋的地质演化背景,认为引起成矿环境演变的原因主要是西太平洋大洋板块的WNW向漂移和新第三纪以来全球水道开合,造成了Lamont海山所处海区最低含氧带逐渐减薄。     

海洋天然气水合物研究新进展——2006西太平洋地球物理会议

简介了2006年西太平洋地球物理会议中海洋天然气水合物研究的最新成果,主要集中在水合物勘探技术,新的水合物积聚区预测,水合物成因、性质分析,水合物评估手段、开发计划,水合物模拟实验研究等几个方面。在对以上几方面分类总结的基础上,提出了几点关于海洋天然气水合物未来研究方向的认识。     

Environmental consequence analyses of fish farm emissions related to different scales and exemplified by data from the Baltic--a review

The aim of this work is to review studies to evaluate how emissions from fish cage farms cause eutrophication effects in marine environments. The focus is on four different scales: (i) the conditions at the site of the farm, (ii) the local scale related to the coastal area where the farm is situated, (iii) the regional scale encompassing many coastal areas and (iv) the international scale including several regional coastal areas. The aim is to evaluate the role of nutrient emissions from fish farms in a general way, but all selected examples come from the Baltic Sea. An important part of this evaluation concerns the method to define the boundaries of a given coastal area. If this is done arbitrarily, one would obtain arbitrary results in the environmental consequence analysis. In this work, the boundary lines between the coast and the sea are drawn using GIS methods (geographical information systems) according to the topographical bottleneck method, which opens a way to determine many fundamental characteristics in the context of mass balance calculations. In mass balance modelling, the fluxes from the fish farm should be compared to other fluxes to, within and from coastal areas. Results collected in this study show that: (1) at the smallest scale (<1 ha), the "footprint" expressing the impact areas of fish cage farm often corresponds to the size of a "football field" (50-100 m) if the annual fish production is about 50 ton, (2) at the local scale (1 ha to 100 km2), there exists a simple load diagram (effect-load-sensitivity) to relate the environmental response and effects from a specific load from a fish cage farm. This makes it possible to obtain a first estimate of the maximum allowable fish production in a specific coastal area, (3) at the regional scale (100-10,000 km2), it is possible to create negative nutrient fluxes, i.e., use fish farming as a method to reduce the nutrient loading to the sea. The breaking point is to use more than about 1.1 g wet weight regionally caught wild fish per gram feed for the cultivated fish, and (4) at the international scale (>10,000 km2) related to the Baltic Proper, the contribution from fish farms to the overall nutrient fluxes are very small. We have also given two case-studies at the local scale where the impact of the fish farm emissions are greatest and the idea is to identify coastal areas unsuitable and suitable for fish cage farms and the reasons why. It should also be stressed that the results presented here are exemplified using emissions from fish farms, but that the underlying principles to evaluate the ecosystem effects of nutrient discharges from point source emissions are valid in a wider and more general perspective.