Late Pleistocene baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) forest deposit on the continental shelf of the northern Gulf of Mexico

Approximately 13 km south of Gulf Shores, Alabama (United States), divers found in situ baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) stumps 18 m below the ocean surface. These trees could have only lived when sea level fell during the Pleistocene subaerially exposing the tectonically stable continental shelf. Here we investigate the geophysical properties along with microfossil and stratigraphical analyses of sediment cores to understand the factors that lead to this wood’s preservation. The stumps are exposed in an elongated depression (~100 m long, ~1 m deep) nested in a trough of the northwest–southeast trending Holocene sand ridges and troughs with 2–5 m vertical relief and ~0.5 km wavelength. Radiocarbon ages of the wood were infinite thus optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was used to constrain the site’s age. Below the Holocene sands (~0.1–4 m thick), separated by a regional erosional unconformity, are Late Pleistocene mud-peat (72±8 ka OSL), mud-sand (63±5, 73±6 ka OSL), and palaeosol (56±5 ka OSL) facies that grade laterally from west to east, respectively. Foraminiferal analysis reveals the location of the terrestrial-marine transitional layer above the Pleistocene facies in an interbedded sand and mud facies (3940±30 (1σ) ¹⁴C a BP), which is part of a lower shoreface or marine-dominated estuarine environment. The occurrence of palaeosol and swamp facies of broadly similar ages and elevation suggests the glacial landscape possessed topographic relief that allowed wood, mud and peats to be preserved for ~50 ka of subaerial exposure before transitioning to the modern marine environment. We hypothesize that rapid sea-level rise occurring ~60 or ~40 ka ago provided opportunities for local flood-plain aggradation to bury the swamp thus preserving the stumps and that other sites may exist in the northern Gulf of Mexico shelf.     

东非海岸坦桑尼亚和鲁伍马盆地天然气成藏机理

东非海岸盆地天然气资源丰富,是世界天然气勘探的热点地区.东非海岸重点盆地的天然气为腐泥型高温裂解气,主要来源于下侏罗统局限海相优质烃源岩.大型断裂控制了东非海岸重点盆地天然气的垂向运移,研究区主要发育大型伸展断裂和大型走滑断裂.大型走滑断裂是坦桑尼亚盆地南部天然气藏的主要运移通道,其主要活动时期为晚白垩世-古新世,控制了白垩系-古近系浊积砂岩气藏的油气运移成藏.大型伸展断裂是鲁伍马盆地天然气藏的主要运移通道,其主要活动时期为古新世、渐新世和新近纪,控制了古近系浊积砂岩气藏的油气运移成藏.砂体规模控制了深水区岩性或构造-岩性圈闭的大小,进而控制了天然气藏的规模.受天然气运移方式的控制,东非海岸盆地形成了大型走滑断裂控藏模式和大型伸展断裂控藏模式.      

中国海洋的珊瑚-珊瑚礁: 南海中央区珊瑚-珊瑚礁生物多样性特征

珊瑚是地球上最古老的原住民,具有近6×108年的发育史,弱势群居、喜温和原地长成是珊瑚的基本特征。作者介绍了珊瑚-珊瑚礁的基本特征,综述了跨十年调查的研究区珍贵照片资料和相关认识,指出中国是全球主要的珊瑚-珊瑚礁国家,地位举足轻重;珊瑚-珊瑚礁作为地球生物多样性的代表,造岛、固礁、护鱼、防护岛岸流失,形成南海四大群岛280余座岛、礁、滩、沙,所构建庞大海洋生态系统是无与伦比的海洋生态资源和寸土寸金的南海海洋国土。提出划分南海珊瑚-珊瑚礁为中央区和周缘区2个分布区,阐述了南海中央区珊瑚-珊瑚礁的基本特征,系统汇集报道了间隔10年2个科考航次调查在浅水礁盘浮潜、至20 m水深浅潜-深潜和礁盘及开展岛、礁、滩、沙地质调查的发现,包括科学定名46种六放石珊瑚和6种八放软珊瑚等成果,同时,收集了西沙、中沙、东沙和南沙群岛海域的相关调查航次珊瑚照片;进一步阐述了单体环礁和复合环礁的特征及分布,并进行了初步对比,指出永乐环礁是南海唯一一个真正的切合达尔文模式的环礁,也是环礁发展到最高阶段的产物,构成现代海洋珊瑚-珊瑚礁形成演化研究最好的天然实验室。     

自然与人类活动叠加影响下晋祠泉域岩溶地下水动态特征

为了查明山西省晋祠泉泉水断流、泉口水位下降及近年来泉口水位回升的原因,为泉水复流工作提供理论参考,以长系列气象、水文、开采量、泉流量、地下水位等资料为基础,在详细分析了晋祠泉域不同水动力分区年内、年际动态特征的基础上,从自然气候与人类活动两方面出发,阐述了不同历史时期晋祠泉域岩溶水位变化的影响因素。结果表明：1956-1994年,因20世纪80、90年代人工开采量达到历史高峰期,一度超过2.4 m³/s,且80年代以后我国北方干旱化发展趋势较为严重,晋祠泉水流量逐渐减小直至断流;1994-2008年,人工开采量虽有一定程度减少,但仍维持在2.0 m³/s左右,且恰逢连续枯水年,降水量、河流径流量较多年平均值分别减小了11%和27%,此阶段泉口水位快速下降至历史最低值;2008年以后进入相对丰水期,在采取多项措施减少泉域岩溶水开采量的同时,汾河二库蓄水水位逐步抬高,其对岩溶水的渗漏补给量在经历了约2 a的滞后期后到达泉域排泄区,晋祠泉口水位近年来逐步回升。     

川东北普光地区深层富钾卤水钾资源提取研究

四川盆地地下卤水资源丰富,尤其川东北地区地下卤水富含高品质钾资源。本项目以四川普光地区富钾卤水为研究对象,根据卤水组成,采用模拟计算并结合实验验证的方法,研究了高温蒸发时,氯化钠、氯化钾、光卤石、硼酸等矿物的析出阶段及特点。研究结果表明,当蒸失水率约80%时,体系中约85%的NaCl析出,同时KCl达到饱和,继续蒸发可获取钾石盐。控制总蒸失水率94%~95%时分离,体系中大于80%的钾可在这一阶段析出,且湿基中KCl品位可高达约45%;析出钾石盐后的卤水降至室温可获得NaCl、KCl、KCl·MgCl₂·6H₂O及H₃BO₃的混合物,硼的析出率可达到约80%。同时,研究表明,将蒸失水率约80%时分离石盐后的卤水直接降温可以获得湿基品位约高达70%的钾石盐矿,钾析出率约50%。综合对比分析,提出两条以钾资源开发为主的工艺路线:其一为“高温蒸发析氯化钠-高温蒸发析氯化钾-冷却析钾硼混盐”,通过加工获得KCl及H₃BO₃产品;其二为“高温蒸发析氯化钠-冷却析钾”,通过加工获得高端KCl产品。     

黄河北煤田10号煤煤层气储层物性及特征研究

煤层气是一种备受国家重视和开发利用的非常规清洁能源,煤层气储层物性的研究对煤层气资源的评价与开发具有重要意义。以黄河北煤田煤层气开发资料为基础,结合区域地质特征,应用煤层气地质理论对煤田内10号煤煤层气储层物性特征进行了研究。研究发现:10号煤层宏观煤岩类型以半亮煤为主,煤中有机显微组分以镜质组为主,无机显微组分以黏土为主;煤的变质程度比较高,整体进入成熟阶段;10号煤层储层孔裂隙发育、渗透率较低;10煤层对甲烷的吸附能力较强;10号煤层储层压力为2.16~4.20MPa,压力梯度为0.418~0.797MPa/100m,为低压储层至常压储层;黄河北煤田呈单斜构造,10号煤层埋藏深度较深,含水性较好,有利于煤层气保存。     

Lower Cretaceous turbidites in the Shiquanhe–Namco Ophiolite Mélange Zone,Asa area,Tibet:Constraints on the evolution of the Meso-Tethys Ocean

Turbidites from the Shiquanhe–Namco Ophiolite Mélange Zone(SNMZ) record critical information about the tectonic affinity of the SNMZ and the evolutionary history of the Meso-Tethys Ocean in Tibet.This paper reports sedimentologic,sandstone petrographic,zircon U-Pb geochronologic,and clastic rocks geochemical data of newly identified turbidites(Asa Formation) in the Asa Ophiolite Mélange.The youngest ages of detrital zircon from the turbiditic sandstone samples,together with ～115 Ma U-Pb concordant age from the tuff intercalation within the Asa Formation indicate an Early Cretaceous age.The sandstone mineral modal composition data show that the main component is quartz grains and the minor components are sedimentary and volcanic fragments,suggesting that the turbidites were mainly derived from a recycled orogen provenance with a minor addition of volcanic arc materials.The detrital U-Pb zircon ages of turbiditic sandstones yield main age populations of170–120 Ma,300–220 Ma,600–500 Ma,1000–700 Ma,1900–1500 Ma,and ～2500 Ma,similar to the ages of the Qiangtang Terrane(age peak of 600–500 Ma,1000–900 Ma,～1850 Ma and ～2500 Ma) and the accretionary complex in the Bangong–Nujiang Ophiolite Zone(BNMZ) rather than the age of the Central Lhasa Terrane(age peak of ～300 Ma,～550 Ma and ～1150 Ma).The mineral modal compositions,detrital U-Pb zircon ages,and geochemical data of clastic rocks suggest that the Asa Formation is composed of sediments primarily recycled from the Jurassic accretionary complex within the BNMZ with the secondary addition of intermediate-felsic island arc materials from the South Qiangtang Terrane.Based on our new results and previous studies,we infer that the SNMZ represents a part of the Meso-Tethys Suture Zone,rather than a southward tectonic klippe of the BNMZ or an isolated ophiolitic mélange zone within the Lhasa Terrane.The Meso-Tethys Suture Zone records the continuous evolutionary history of the northward subduction,accretion,arc-Lhasa collision,and Lhasa-Qiangtang collision of the Meso-Tethys Ocean from the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous.     

The effect of cement material properties on the fracture patterns developing within cement-covered brittle sphere under impact

Acta Geotechnica - Dynamic loading experiments of single glass bead cement-covered by epoxy resins of different compositions demonstrate the existence of diverse fracture patterns under similar...     

Size distribution of free particles in soils: a geometric modelling approach

Acta Geotechnica - Suffusion is a typical form of internal erosion for gravel soils in which fine particles are detached by seepage and transport by water through pores. The prediction of erodible...