Experimental evidence for eukaryotic fossil preservation: Onion skin cells in silica solution

Research on the origin of eukaryotes often focuses on the exceptional preservation found in silicified Precambrian fossils. Nuclei like subcellular structures in well-preserved fossil becomes confusion and arguments, which focus on whether the partial degradation of prokaryotes produces artifacts that resemble a ‘nucleus’, or fossilized nuclei of eukaryotes. In order to understand the mechanisms of silicification and identify the fossilized subcellular and microstructures in rocks, a series of laboratory controlled experiments were performed for simulating the silicification process. The effects of different silica solutions in eukaryote fossilization were studied in our experiments by exposing onion skin cells (epidermis) to silica solutions. Onion skin provides a good experimental model because of its well characterized cellular structures which are easily observed. The designed experiments revealed that the possibility of onion cell preserved as a “fossil” with nuclear structures, the first week fossilization, or mineralization as rapid as 1 week is important. And the experiment also revealed interactions between silica and the onion skin cell wall surface functional groups were weak. The preservation of nuclei in the onion skin model was due to precipitation in highly supersaturated silica solutions rather than simply the high silica concentration. When the silica gel precipitates slowly at low supersaturation states, the nuclei were not well preserved, but the rapid precipitation at high supersaturated silica conditions preserved nuclear structures. A better understanding of the processes involved in onion skin fossilization will further contribute to issues concerning the silicification of other eukaryotic materials.     

A preliminary study of early agriculture practices at the Haojiatai site in Luohe city,Henan Province

As the most fundamental economic sector of human societies,farming has played a significant role in interactions between humans and the environment.The study of crop patterns in various regions could not only clarify the economic foundations of early societies,but also greatly improve our understanding of interactions among human beings,the environment,and other creatures.In this regard,this study focuses on early agriculture practices at the Haojiatai site,situated in the cultural and natural transitional region between North and South China.Macro plant remains from this site reveal that foxtail millet was the most important staple crop here during the Longshan and Xinzhai periods(4300–3800 cal.yr BP),along with common millet and a small amount of rice and soybean.This crop pattern is in contrast to the ancient environmental conditions of this region,and cultural factors such as agriculture traditions and food preferences may have been more important in the formation process of this crop pattern.     

Simulation of Lake-Groundwater Interaction under Steady-State Flow

MODFLOW is one of the most popular groundwater simulation tools available; however, the development of lake modules that can be coupled with MODFLOW is lacking apart from the LAK3 package. This study proposes a new approach for simulating lake - groundwater interaction under steady-state flow, referred to as the sloping lakebed method (SLM). In this new approach, discretization of the lakebed in the vertical direction is independent of the spatial discretization of the aquifer system, which can potentially solve the problem that the lake and groundwater are usually simulated at different scales. The lakebed is generalized by a slant at the bottom of each lake grid cell, which can be classified as fully submerged, dry, and partly submerged. The SLM method accounts for all lake sources and sinks, establishing a governing equation that can be solved using Newton's method. A benchmarking case study was conducted using a modified model setup in the LAK3 user manual. It was found that when there is a sufficient number of layers at the top of the groundwater model, SLM simulates an almost identical groundwater head as the LAK3-based model; when the number of layers decreases, SLM is unaffected while LAK3 may be at a risk of giving unrealistic results. Additionally, the SLM can reflect the relationship between the simulated lake surface area and lake water depth more accurately. Therefore, the SLM method is a promising alternative to the LAK3 package when simulating lake - groundwater interaction.     

A 2D well-balanced,coupled model of water flow,sediment transport,and bed evolution based on unstructured grids with efficient variable storage strategy

In recent decades,a few Godunov-type,finite volume two-dimensional(2D)unstructured grid,coupled flow,and sediment models(GF2DUCM)have been developed for flows over erodible beds.These kinds of models are generally analyzed as a Vertex Model(VM)that define topography at the cell vertex,which can lead to the non-conservation of mass regarding flow,sediment,and bed evolution.Here,a full cellcantered variable storage method(Central Model or CM)is applied as the solution of the GF2DUCM.In this method,terrain elevation is defined at the cell centroids;this accurately describes the physical relations between the water depth and topography deformation.This approach can fully eliminate calculation errors in topography deformation at local cells caused by the interpolation of topography deformation at the cell vertex,and reduced uncertainty in the computation of the GF2DUCM.The model performance is systematically tested using a series of laboratory experiments,which demonstrate the mass conservation feature and high accuracy in reproducing hydrodynamic and morphological processes.     

Risk analysis for clustered check dams due to heavy rainfall

Check dams are commonly constructed around the world for alleviating soil erosion and preventing sedimentation of downstream rivers and reservoirs.Check dams are more vulnerable to failure due to their less stringent flood control standards compared to other dams.Determining the critical precipitation that will result in overtopping of a dam is a useful approach to assessing the risk of failure on a probabilistic basis and for providing early warning in case of an emergency.However,many check dams are built in groups,spreading in several tributaries in cascade forms,comprising a complex network.Determining the critical precipitation for dam overtopping requires a knowledge of its upstream dams on whether they survived or were overtopped during the same storm,while these upstream dams in turn need the information for their upstream dams.The current paper presents an approach of decomposing the dam cluster into(1)the heading dam,(2)border dams,and(3)intermediate dams.The algorithm begins with the border dams that have no upstream dams and proceeds with upgraded maps without the previous border dams until all the dams have been checked.It is believed that this approach is applicable for small-scale check dam systems where the time lag of flood routing can be neglected.As a pilot study,the current paper presents the analytical results for the Wangmaogou Check Dam System that has 22 dams connected in series and parallel.The algorithm clearly identified 7 surviving dams,with the remaining ones being overtopped for a storm of 179.6 mm in 12 h,which is associated with a return period of one in 200 years.     

Numerical and test study on vertical vibration characteristics of pile group in slope soil topography

Topography effects on the vertical vibration responses of pile group are revealed though numerical analysis and model tests.First,a series of model tests with different topography of ground and bedrock are conducted.The results indicate that displacement amplitude of the pile head in sloping ground topography is larger than in horizontal ground.Differential displacement at various positions of the pile cap is observed in non-horizontal topography.Afterwards,a numerical algorithm is employed to further explore the essential response characteristics in group piles of different topography configurations,which has been verified by the test results.The lengths of the exposed and frictional segment,together with the thickness of the subsoil layer,are the dominant factors which cause non-axisymmetric vibration at the pile cap.     

奥陶系岩溶古地貌恢复及对气藏分布的控制作用——以鄂尔多斯盆地苏里格东区41-33区块为例

苏东41-33区块位于鄂尔多斯盆地中央古隆起的北部南缘,长期沉积间断的风化壳不整合面形成复杂的岩溶古地貌,属苏里格气田东部奥陶系碳酸盐岩气藏的重要勘探区。研究基于钻井、测井、地震及生产动态资料分析,综合运用地球物理法、残厚法和印模法,优选本溪组顶9号煤层和马家沟组马五5灰岩为标志层,深入探讨古地貌单元的恢复依据和划分标准,精细恢复岩溶古地貌形态,并明确岩溶古地貌特征及其对气藏分布的影响。研究表明:苏东41-33区块整体处于二级地貌单元岩溶斜坡之上,奥陶系古风化壳上下地层厚度可划分出上薄下薄、上薄下厚、上厚下薄等5种组合类型,细分古坡地、残丘和沟槽3个三级地貌单元;古地貌总体趋势走向为北高南低,出露层位展布由马五4过渡到马五1。中南部发育连片残丘,北部见小型零星残丘,恢复厚度低于15m,残留厚度超过85m;北部发育2条侵蚀沟槽带,充填厚度大于20m,残留厚度小于45m;古坡地分布范围广泛,周围被古残丘与沟槽所分割,残留厚度介于45m^85m之间,恢复厚度大于10m。古地貌类型对风化壳气藏分布具有明显的控制作用,岩溶残丘及残丘边缘带的古坡地储层叠合厚度增大,溶蚀孔洞充填程度低,主力含气层保存完整且连通性较好,是寻找高产井的目标区,而岩溶古沟槽相对不利于天然气富集,所钻遇气井多为低产或无产能。     

雄安新区蓟县系雾迷山组岩溶热储特征、主控因素及有利区预测*

雄安新区蓟县系雾迷山组中赋存丰富的地热资源,研究雾迷山组岩溶热储特征及优质储集层发育的主控因素是地热资源勘探的基础。综合运用野外剖面、岩心、薄片、钻井、测井、录井等地质与地球物理资料,对雾迷山组岩溶热储特征和演化过程进行了深入研究,明确了优质储集层形成的控制因素,预测了有利靶区。结果表明,雾迷山组岩溶热储主要岩性为晶粒白云岩、颗粒白云岩、微生物白云岩、硅质白云岩和角砾白云岩等,溶蚀孔洞、裂缝及其组合为主要的储集空间类型。雾迷山组热储平均孔隙度为3.18%,平均渗透率为91.48×10^-3 μm²;其中角砾白云岩物性最好。雾迷山组岩溶热储经历了沉积—准同生期成孔(雾迷山沉积期)、Ⅰ期表生增孔(雾迷山沉积期后至青白口纪前)、Ⅰ期埋藏减孔(青白口纪前至三叠纪)、Ⅱ期表生增孔(三叠纪—古近纪)、Ⅱ期埋藏减孔(新近纪—第四纪)5个阶段,岩性及岩相、成岩作用和构造应力是雾迷山组有利热储形成的主控因素。藻云坪—云坪相、表生岩溶、埋藏溶蚀、准同生岩溶、岩溶高地—斜坡和地层裂缝段比率大于0.4的6项叠合区是研究区最有利的岩溶热储发育区。     

渤中凹陷CFD18-2油田高岭石胶结作用及其对储层物性的影响

为探究成岩作用过程中所形成的次生黏土矿物对储层物性的影响,借助偏光显微镜及扫描电镜的镜下分析,并结合储层物性等数据,对渤中凹陷附近沙垒田凸起东南部CFD18-2油田东三段高岭石的特征、类型、成因及其对储层物性的影响进行了研究。研究结果表明：1）研究区高岭石为有机酸溶蚀长石形成的自生高岭石,呈现典型的"手风琴状"及"蠕虫状",常充填于粒间孔、长石次生溶孔及碳酸盐胶结物溶孔中并形成良好的晶间孔隙。2）研究区主要发育两期高岭石,第一期主要充填于早期碳酸盐胶结物溶孔中,呈微小"蠕虫状";第二期充填于铁方解石与铁白云石胶结物溶孔中,部分高岭石具碱性溶蚀特征,且第二期高岭石与晚期伊利石共生。3）研究区东三段储层具备一定的渗流能力,使长石溶蚀形成的"副产物"被流体带走;但在破坏性成岩作用下,储层渗流能力会逐渐变差,最终使得"副产物"堆积于孔隙,降低储层物性。4）高岭石及同期硅质胶结物对储层物性的影响是一把"双刃剑",当高岭石及硅质的体积分数低于6.81%时,长石溶蚀有利于改善储层物性;当高岭石及硅质的体积分数高于6.81%时,则不利于储层物性的改善。