Mapping the hydraulic connection between a coalbed and adjacent aquifer: example of the coal-seam gas resource area,north Galilee Basin,Australia

Coal-seam gas production requires groundwater extraction from coal-bearing formations to reduce the hydraulic pressure and improve gas recovery. In layered sedimentary basins, the coalbeds are often separated from freshwater aquifers by low-permeability aquitards. However, hydraulic connection between the coalbed and aquifers is possible due to the heterogeneity in the aquitard such as the existence of conductive faults or sandy channel deposits. For coal-seam gas extraction operations, it is desirable to identify areas in a basin where the probability of hydraulic connection between the coalbed and aquifers is low in order to avoid unnecessary loss of groundwater from aquifers and gas production problems. A connection indicator, the groundwater age indictor (GAI), is proposed, to quantify the degree of hydraulic connection. The spatial distribution of GAI can indicate the optimum positions for gas/water extraction in the coalbed. Depressurizing the coalbed at locations with a low GAI would result in little or no interaction with the aquifer when compared to the other positions. The concept of GAI is validated on synthetic cases and is then applied to the north Galilee Basin, Australia, to assess the degree of hydraulic connection between the Aramac Coal Measure and the water-bearing formations in the Great Artesian Basin, which are separated by an aquitard, the Betts Creek Beds. It is found that the GAI is higher in the western part of the basin, indicating a higher risk to depressurization of the coalbed in this region due to the strong hydraulic connection between the coalbed and the overlying aquifer.     

Variations of Hydrodynamics and Submarine Groundwater Discharge in the Yellow River Estuary Under the Influence of the Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme

The “Water-Sediment Regulation Scheme” (WSRS) is critically important to the hydrologic evaluation of the Yellow River estuary since a huge pulse of water and sediment are delivered into the sea during a short period. We used the natural geochemical tracers radium (²²³Ra, ²²⁴Ra, ²²⁶Ra) and radon (²²²Rn) isotopes as well as other hydrological parameters to investigate the mixing variations and submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in the Yellow River estuary under the influence of the 2013 WSRS. Dramatically elevated radium and radon isotopic activities were observed during this WSRS compared with activities measured during a non-WSRS period. Radium “water ages” indicated that the offshore transport rate nearly tripled when the river discharge increased from 400 to 3400 m³/s. We calculated the SGD flux in the Yellow River estuary based on a radium mass balance model as well as radium and radon time-series models. The SGD flux was estimated at 0.02~0.20 m/day during a non-WSRS period and 0.67~1.22 m/day during the 2013 WSRS period. The results also indicate that large river discharge tends to lead more intense SGD along the river channel direction with a large amount of fresh SGD.     

The August 27, 2014, rock avalanche and related impulse water waves in Fuquan,Guizhou, China

At about 8:30 p.m. on 27 August 2014, a catastrophic rock avalanche suddenly occurred in Fuquan, Yunnan, southwestern China. This landslide and related impulse water waves destroyed two villages and killed 23 persons. The impulse waves occurred after initiation of the landslide, caused by the main part of the slide mass rapidly plunging into a water-filled quarry below the source area. The wave, comprising muddy water and rock debris, impacted the opposite slope of the quarry on the western side of the runout path and washed away three homes in Xinwan village. Part of the displaced material traveled a horizontal distance of about 40 m from its source and destroyed the village of Xiaoba. To provide information for potential landslide hazard zonation in this area, a combined landslide–wave simulation was undertaken. A dynamic landslide analysis (DAN-W) model is used to simulate the landslide propagation before entering the quarry, while Fluent (Ansys Inc., USA) is used to simulate the impulse wave generation and propagation. Output data from the DAN-W simulation are used as input parameters for wave modeling, and there is good agreement between the observed and simulated results of the landslide propagation. Notably, the locations affected by recordable waves according to the simulation correspond to those recorded by field investigation.     

我国海洋水下文化遗产保护现状与管理探讨

海洋水下文化遗产是不可再生的文化资源,在全球海洋开发的浪潮中,做好海洋水下文化遗产的调查和保护是迫切和急需的。文章概述世界上传统海洋大国对海洋水下文化遗产保护和管理的经验,分析我国海洋水下文化遗产保护和管理存在的问题,并提出相关对策:查清海洋水下文化遗产的分布、数量和特征等信息,了解海洋水下文化遗产分布区的地质地貌环境、水动力环境和保存环境条件,建立海洋水下文化遗产档案馆和数据库系统;完善与海洋水下文化遗产保护相关的法规、政策和标准规范等,提升执法效率,做好海洋水下文化遗产保护和海洋开发利用的协调工作;建立海洋水下文化遗产保护示范区,传承和弘扬蓝色文明,实现海洋水下文化遗产的社会利用和可持续保护。     

Numerical study on inter-tidal transports in coastal seas

Inter-tidal(subtidal) transport processes in coastal sea depend on the residual motion, turbulent dispersion and relevant sources/sinks. In Feng et al.(2008), an updated Lagrangian inter-tidal transport equation, as well as new concept of Lagrangian in- ter-tidal concentration(LIC), has been proposed for a general nonlinear shallow water system. In the present study, the LIC is nu- merically applied for the first time to passive tracers in idealized settings and salinity in the Bohai Sea, China. Circulation and tracer motion in the three idealized model seas with different topography or coastline, termed as ‘flat-bottom', ‘stairs' and ‘cape' case, re- spectively, are simulated. The dependence of the LIC on initial tidal phase suggests that the nonlinearities in the stairs and cape cases are stronger than that in the flat-bottom case. Therefore, the ‘flat-bottom' case still meets the convectively weakly nonlinear condi- tion. For the Bohai Sea, the simulation results show that most parts of it still meet the weakly nonlinear condition. However, the de- pendence of the LIS(Lagrangian inter-tidal salinity) on initial tidal phase is significant around the southern headland of the Liaodong Peninsula and near the mouth of the Yellow River. The nonlinearity in the former region is mainly related to the complicated coast- lines, and that in the latter region is due to the presence of the estuarine salinity front.     

藏南错那淡色花岗岩LA-MC-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄、岩石地球化学及其地质意义

藏南错那淡色花岗岩位于喜马拉雅造山带的东部。对其进行LA-MC-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年,结果显示,结晶年龄为17.7±0.3Ma,代表中新世的地壳深熔作用。淡色花岗岩样品具有高的Si O2(74.46%~75.57%)、Al2O3(14.07%~14.64%)和K2O(4.19%~4.85%)含量,高的K2O/Na2O值(1.09~1.31)和A/CNK值(1.15~1.25),富集Rb、Th和U,亏损Ba、Nb、Sr、Zr等元素,显示高的Rb/Sr值(17.75~29.50)和强烈的负Eu异常(δEu=0.18~0.26),属于壳源成因的高钾钙碱性过铝质S型花岗岩。样品具有高的Isr值(0.78982~0.79276)和低的εNd(t)值(-19.5~-18.2),可与大喜马拉雅结晶杂岩(GHC)中的变泥质岩对比,暗示其来自变泥质岩的部分熔融。样品的Isr值较高,而Sr浓度较低,且随着Ba浓度的增加,Rb/Sr值逐渐降低,表明淡色花岗岩是无水条件下白云母部分熔融的产物,部分熔融可能与藏南拆离系(STDS)伸展拆离导致的构造减压有关。错那淡色花岗岩的形成反映了地壳伸展减薄背景下,构造减压导致的中下地壳中含水矿物脱水熔融,并沿STDS上升侵位的动力学过程。     

Simulating train moving loads in physical model testing of railway infrastructure and its numerical calibration

Ballastless high-speed railways have dynamic performances that are quite different from those of conventional ballasted railways. The essential dynamic characteristics of high-speed railways due to passing train wheels, such as the cyclic effect, moving effect, and speed effect, were put forward and discussed. A full-scale accelerated railway testing platform for ballastless high-speed railways was proposed in this study. The feasibility of the sequential loading method in simulating train moving loads, and the boundary effect of the proposed physical model of ballastless railways, was investigated using three-dimensional finite element models. A full-scale physical model, 5 m long, 15 m wide, and 6 m high, was then established according to practical engineering design methods. Using a sequential loading system composed of eight high-performance hydraulic actuators, loads of a moving train with highest speed of 360 km/h were simulated. Preliminary experimental results of vibration velocities were presented and compared with field measurements of the Wuguang high-speed railway in China. Results showed that the experimental results coincided with the field measurements, demonstrating that the full-scale accelerated railway testing platform can simulate the process of a moving train and realistically reproduce the dynamic behaviors of ballastless high-speed railways.