An adjoint-based optimization method for gas production in shale reservoirs

In this work, we consider a new model for flow in a multiporosity shale gas reservoir constructed within the framework of an upscaling procedure where hydraulic fractures are treated as (\(n-1\)) interfaces (\(n=2,3\)). Within this framework, the hydrodynamics is governed by a new pressure equation in the shale matrix which is treated as a homogenized porous medium composed of organic matter (kerogen aggregates with nanopores) and inorganic impermeable solid (clay, calcite, quartz) separated from each other by a network of interparticle pores of micrometer size. The solution of the pressure equation is strongly influenced by the constitutive response of the retardation parameter and effective hydraulic conductivity where the former incorporates gas adsorption/desorption in the nanopores of the kerogen. By focusing our analyses on this nonlinear diffusion equation in the domain occupied by the shale matrix, an optimization strategy seated on the adjoint sensitivity method is developed to minimize a cost functional related to gas production and net present value in a single hydraulic fracture. The gradient of the objective functional computed with the adjoint formulation is explored to update the controlled pressure drop aiming to optimize production in a given window of time. The combination of the direct approach and gradient-based optimization using the adjoint formulation leads to the construction of optimal production scenarios under controlled pressure decline in the well. Numerical simulations illustrate the potential of the methodology proposed herein in optimizing gas production.     

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Limnobium laevigatum</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ludwigia peploides</Emphasis>: their phytoremediation potential in water contaminated with heavy metals

Contamination with heavy metals in surface and groundwater is a threat to human health and ecosystems. Due to this, the need arises to remediate water polluted through ecological and profitable technologies, such as phytoremediation. The objective of the work was to evaluate the concentration of lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in the floating macrophytes Limnobium laevigatum and Ludwigia peploides, after being exposed to contaminated water experimentally. In this way to be able to determine if these plants have mechanisms that allow them to accumulate the metals in the roots and to perform the translocation of these to different vegetative organs, L. laevigatum and L. peploides were placed in solutions contaminated with Pb ([Pb]?=?5 mg/l) and Zn ([Zn]?=?20 mg/l). The concentrations of metals in water, root and leaf samples were evaluated as a function of time (0, 1, 2 and 4 days). The determination of the metals was performed by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry technique. After 4 days of exposure to Pb and Zn, the plants showed high metal removal efficiencies of water, more to 70% in all cases. Pb was accumulated fundamentally by roots, while Zn was accumulated more in the leaves. In addition, the bioconcentration and translocation factors for each metal were calculated.     

陕西凤太矿集区多金属成矿作用的构造控制

陕西凤县-太白(简称凤太)矿集区铅、锌、金、银、铜多金属资源丰富,已发现二十余个大中小型矿床。在大地构造位置上,凤太矿集区位于南秦岭造山带北缘,紧邻商丹缝合带。以往的工作缺乏对矿集区整体的构造研究,本次工作通过比较系统的构造测量和解析,提出在南秦岭晚三叠世碰撞造山过程中,凤太矿集区南北两条边界断裂带的左行走滑运动导致在区内衍生了NNE向主压应力场,从而形成了NWW向复式褶皱、脆韧性剪切带、断裂和节理(纵向破裂)、B型线理,以及NNE向断裂和节理(横向破裂)、劈理、张裂隙等一系列构造组合,所有构造形迹都是在统一构造应力场下随着构造层次不断抬升,脆韧性和脆性递进变形叠加的产物,共同构成了一个大型压扭性走滑双重构造变形系统。在构造几何学上,凤太矿集区整体上表现为一个隔档式复式褶皱,由一组NWW向紧闭复背斜和一组相对宽缓复向斜组成。区内的多金属成矿作用、岩浆活动、动力变质变形作用的同位素年龄数据集中于230~190Ma。综合地质演化和成矿作用的研究成果,提出在南秦岭碰撞造山过程中引发的动力变质变形作用和岩浆活动提供了成矿元素和成矿流体,在温压梯度以及浮力效应的驱动下向上运移至走滑双重构造变形系统中的有利扩容空间中发生充填型和交代型矿化,即凤太矿集区多金属矿床是区域大规模变形变质-岩浆活动-流体作用的产物,是在构造作用这一主导因素控制下形成的一个多金属后生热液成矿系统。     

The Key Supply Source of Long-Distance Moisture Transport for the Extreme Rainfall Event on July 21, 2012 in Beijing

In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and meteorological observation data were used to research the long-distance moisture transport supply source of the extreme rainfall event that occurred on July 21, 2012 in Beijing. Recording a maximum rainfall amount of 460 mm in 24 h, this rainstorm event had two dominant moisture transport channels. In the early stage of the rainstorm, the first channel comprised southwesterly monsoonal moisture from the Bay of Bengal (BOB) that was directly transported to north China along the eastern edge of Tibetan Plateau (TP) by orographic uplift. During the rainstorm, the southwesterly moisture transport was weakened by the transfer of Typhoon Vicente. Moreover, the southeasterly moisture transport between the typhoon and western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) became another dominant moisture transport channel. The moisture in the lower troposphere was mainly associated with the southeasterly moisture transport from the South China Sea and the East China Sea, and the moisture in the middle troposphere was mainly transported from the BOB and Indian Ocean. The control experiment well reproduced the distribution and intensity of rainfall and moisture transport. By comparing the control and three sensitivity experiments, we found that the moisture transported from Typhoon Vicente and a tropical cyclone in the BOB both significantly affected this extreme rainfall event. After Typhoon Vicente was removed in a sensitivity experiment, the maximum 24-h accumulated rainfall in north China was reduced by approximately 50% compared with that of the control experiment, while the rainfall after removing the tropical cyclone was reduced by 30%. When both the typhoon and tropical cyclone were removed, the southwesterly moisture transport was enhanced. Moreover, the sensitivity experiment of removing Typhoon Vicente also weakened the tropical cyclone in the BOB. Thus, the moisture pump driven by Typhoon Vicente played an important role in maintaining and strengthening the tropical cyclone in the BOB through its westerly airflow. Typhoon Vicente was not only the moisture transfer source for the southwesterly monsoonal moisture but also affected the tropical cyclone in the BOB, which was a key supply source of long-distance moisture transport for the extreme rainfall event on July 21, 2012 in Beijing.     

Revisit the calibration errors on experimental slant total electron content (TEC) determined with GPS

The calibration errors on experimental slant total electron content (TEC) determined with global positioning system (GPS) observations is revisited. Instead of the analysis of the calibration errors on the carrier phase leveled to code ionospheric observable, we focus on the accuracy analysis of the undifferenced ambiguity-fixed carrier phase ionospheric observable determined from a global distribution of permanent receivers. The results achieved are: (1) using data from an entire month within the last solar cycle maximum, the undifferenced ambiguity-fixed carrier phase ionospheric observable is found to be over one order of magnitude more accurate than the carrier phase leveled to code ionospheric observable and the raw code ionospheric observable. The observation error of the undifferenced ambiguity-fixed carrier phase ionospheric observable ranges from 0.05 to 0.11 total electron content unit (TECU) while that of the carrier phase leveled to code and the raw code ionospheric observable is from 0.65 to 1.65 and 3.14 to 7.48 TECU, respectively. (2) The time-varying receiver differential code bias (DCB), which presents clear day boundary discontinuity and intra-day variability pattern, contributes the most part of the observation error. This contribution is assessed by the short-term stability of the between-receiver DCB, which ranges from 0.06 to 0.17 TECU in a single day. (3) The remaining part of the observation errors presents a sidereal time cycle pattern, indicating the effects of the multipath. Further, the magnitude of the remaining part implies that the code multipath effects are much reduced. (4) The intra-day variation of the between-receiver DCB of the collocated stations suggests that estimating DCBs as a daily constant can have a mis-modeling error of at least several tenths of 1 TECU.     

碳酸盐岩铸体薄片面孔自动提取研究

岩石孔隙是储层储集油气的重要场所,通过铸体薄片进行岩石孔隙结构分析对储层质量评价具有重要意义。碳酸盐岩孔隙结构较为复杂,铸体薄片图像中存在大量噪声和干扰因素,致使常规方法面孔提取效果不佳,因此本文引入一种多阈值铸体薄片面孔自动提取方法（ctsPore方法）进行孔隙区域提取和面孔率估计,方法综合利用HSV色彩空间中不同参数提取孔隙区域。本文针对碳酸盐岩储层的特点确定了一套ctsPore阈值参数,以解决溶蚀孔与噪声易混淆的问题。实验以伊拉克A油田中新统 Asmari组A段碳酸盐储层为例对所使用算法进行了效果检验。算法精度和效率分析实验表明,基于ctsPore方法的碳酸盐岩铸体薄片面孔提取误差小于0.24%。全井段铸体薄片分析结果表明,A段储层面孔率范围主要分布在6%~8%,储层较为致密,从上到下A1~A3小层的储层平均面孔率分别为6. 9%、11.7%、5.4%,与储层物性、沉积微相和岩性等纵向分布规律较为吻合。     

Development,urban planning and political decisions. A triad that built territories at risk

Natural Hazards - Chilean geography exposes the country to high-level risks such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The disasters of 1930, 1960, 2010, and 2014 testify to the continuous link between...     

9000 years of changes in peat organic matter composition in Store Mosse (Sweden) traced using FTIR-ATR

Store Mosse (the ‘Great Bog’ in Swedish) is one of the most extensive bog complexes in southern Sweden (~77 km²), where pioneering palaeoenvironmental research has been carried out since the early 20th century. This includes, for example, vegetation changes, carbon and nitrogen dynamics, peat decomposition, atmospheric metal pollution, mineral dust deposition, dendrochronology, and tephrochronology. Even though organic matter (OM) represents the bulk of the peat mass and its compositional change has the potential to provide crucial ecological information on bog responses to environmental factors, peat OM molecular composition has not been addressed in detail. Here, a 568-cm-deep peat sequence was studied at high resolution, by attenuated reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) in the mid-infrared region (4000–400 cm^–1). Principal components analysis was performed on selected absorbances and change-point modelling was applied to the records to determine the timing of changes. Four components accounted for peat composition: (i) depletion/accumulation of labile (i.e. carbohydrates) and recalcitrant (i.e. lignin and other aromatics, aliphatics, organic acids and some N compounds) compounds, due to peat decomposition; (ii) variations in N compounds and carbohydrates; (iii) residual variation of lignin and organic acids; and (iv) residual variation of aliphatic structures. Peat decomposition showed two main patterns: a long-term trend highly correlated to peat age (r = 0.87), and a short-term trend, which showed five main phases of increased decomposition (at ~8.4–8.1, ~7.0–5.6, ~3.5–3.1, ~2.7–2.1 and ~1.6–1.3 ka) – mostly corresponding to drier climate and its effect on bog hydrology. The high peat accumulation event (~5.6–3.9 ka), described in earlier studies, is characterized by the lowest degree of peat decomposition of the whole record. Given that FTIR-ATR is a quick, non-destructive, cost-effective technique, our results indicate that it can be applied in a systematic way (including multicore studies) to peat research and provide relevant information on the evolution of peatlands.     

The Colider and Roosevelt Volcanic rocks (sw amazonian craton): geochemistry and sm-nd isotope characteristics of a silicic large igneous province

The volcanic rocks of the Colíder and Roosevelt formations are extensively exposed in the south-central portion of the Amazonian Craton where effusive and pyroclastic rocks have been mapped. Both units, topped by chemical sediments and oceanic facies as rhyolite and andesite lavas, rhyodacite, and porphyritic dacite, with frequent intercalations of pyroclastic and epiclastic deposits. Whole-rock geochemistry for 55 samples of rhyolitic to andesitic composition suggests the involvement of fertile mantle-derived components with E-MORB to OIB compositions. The analyzed rocks display calc-alkaline to shoshonitic affinity consistent with generation related to an active continental margin. The whole-rock Sm-Nd isotope data from selected felsic volcanic rocks of the Colíder and Roosevelt formations yield negative initial ε_Nd values between –3 and –9, indicating the predominantly crustal nature of the parental magmas with early Archean to late Paleoproterozoic (ca. 2.5–2.0 Ga) depleted mantle model ages.

     

Groundwater head uncertainty analysis in unsteady-state water flow models using the interval and perturbation methods

In the numerical simulation of groundwater flow, uncertainties often affect the precision of the simulation results. Stochastic and statistical approaches such as the Monte Carlo method, the Neumann expansion method and the Taylor series expansion, are commonly employed to estimate uncertainty in the final output. Based on the first-order interval perturbation method, a combination of the interval and perturbation methods is proposed as a viable alternative and compared to the well-known equal interval continuous sampling method (EICSM). The approach was realized using the GFModel (an unsaturated-saturated groundwater flow simulation model) program. This study exemplifies scenarios of three distinct interval parameters, namely, the hydraulic conductivities of six equal parts of the aquifer, their boundary head conditions, and several hydrogeological parameters (e.g. specific storativity and extraction rate of wells). The results show that the relative errors of deviation of the groundwater head extremums (RDGE) in the late stage of simulation are controlled within approximately ±5% when the changing rate of the hydrogeological parameter is no more than 0.2. From the viewpoint of the groundwater head extremums, the relative errors can be controlled within ±1.5%. The relative errors of the groundwater head variation are within approximately ±5% when the changing rate is no more than 0.2. The proposed method of this study is applicable to unsteady-state confined water flow systems.