Petrology of a suite of sedimentary rocks associated with some cole-bearing basins in northwestern Thailand

A number of basins in northwestern Thailand contain thick sequences of Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. Oil shales and coals are prominent lithologies within these sequences and occur together in some basins. Most of the sequences are, however, dominated by either oil shales or coals. The major oil shale deposit is in the Mae Sot Basin but oil shales also occur in the Ban Huay Dua, Mae Moh, Ban Pa Ka Li, Mae Teep, Ban Na Hong and Jae Hom Basins.Drilling and detailed mapping, in the Mae Sot Basin indicate thick sequences of oil shales and organic petrological studies show that they contain abundant lamalginite. Trace amounts of telalginite, liptodetrinite, bitumen/resinite and huminite/inertinite are also present in some of the rocks. The parts of the sequences rich in authigenic minerals are, in general, petrographically similar to Green River Formation lamosites. Where clay/silt-sized epiclastics are more abundant, similarities exist to Australian Tertiary lamosites. Vitrinite reflectance date from the oil shales and associated coals indicate a low level of maturity.Oil shales from the other basins are, petrographically similar to the Mae Sot lamosites, however some differences do exist. The Mae Sot and other lamosites were deposited in lacustrine environments that probably had highly variable water depths.     

Quiet Sun observations of the Ali autoionization lines λ1932 and λ1936

We present quiet Sun observations obtained during a rocket flight of the Al i autoionization lines 1932 and 1936 at solar pointings ranging from = 0.73 out to the visible limb. Absolute intensities are estimated to be accurate to approximately ±20%. These lines progressively weaken with decreasing but never go into emission before finally disappearing with the continuum just beyond the visible solar limb. The observations are compared with LTE line profiles computed through the quiet Sun atmosphere of Vernazza et al. (1976). We discuss several areas of disagreement between the synthetic and observed profiles.     

Successful Use of an Innovative Horizontal/Vertical Well Couplet in Fractured Bedrock to Intercept a Mobile Gasoline Plume

The horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology was successfully used in a fracture-controlled sandstone matrix to intercept a gasoline plume and create a 150-foot-long hydrodynamic barrier preventing seepage of gasoline and contaminated ground water into a salmon-bearing stream within a public park. A 36-foot-deep vertical recovery well (VW) intercepts the central low point of the 420-foot-long HDD borehole to pump recovered fluids. Contaminant seepage into the creek ceased within hours of starting up the HDD/VW interceptor system in August 1999. Approximately 325 gallons of gasoline and 2 million gallons of contaminated ground water have been recovered to date.     

Combining dissolved, suspended and bed load stream geochemistry to explore for volcanic massive sulfide deposits: Big Salmon Complex, northern British Columbia

Exploration successes for volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits, such as Kudz Ze Kayah, Wolverine and Fyre Lake in the Yukon–Tanana Terrane and Slide Mountain Terrane (southern Yukon Territory) have spurred interest in the correlative rocks in the Big Salmon Complex in northern British Columbia. In an effort to further the utility of multi-media stream geochemistry in exploration frontiers that are forested, heavily drift covered, or buried, the primary streams of 19 watersheds from the East Teslin Lake (National Topographic System (NTS): 104N/9, 16) and Teh Creek areas (NTS: 104O/11, 12, 13, 14) of the Big Salmon Complex were analyzed for Cu, Pb, and Zn and other parameters in the dissolved load, suspended load and bed load. Traditionally, exploration based on stream geochemistry has employed the bed load and more recently the dissolved load chemistry, but almost never the suspended load despite strong differences in the geochemical signatures of the three media. Here, we document that copper, lead, and zinc partition into the dissolved, suspended, and bed loads differently and that the magnitude of anomalies is different for each media. The adsorbing capacity of the suspended load may make it a more sensitive indicator of mineral deposits on a regional basis than either the trace-element-poor dissolved load or the bulk-rock-diluted bed load which are likely better indicators of local mineralization. It is clear that each phase contributes unique information about the distribution of elements in the watershed that could be considered in exploration models.We also show that summing standardized element concentrations and summing the sums across media appears to be an effective method to reduce the data without loss of important information. We likewise investigated the utility of calculating major element normalized enrichments for exploration and find that it is a promising approach.     

Effects of Intraborehole Flow on Purging and Sampling Long-Screened or Open Wells

Hydraulic head differences across the screened or open interval of a well significantly influence the sampled water mixture. Sample bias can occur due to an insufficient pumping rate and/or due to native groundwater displacement by intraborehole flow (IBF). Proper understanding of the sampled water mixture is crucial for accurate interpretation of environmental tracers and groundwater chemistry data, and hence groundwater characterization. This paper uses numerical modeling to quantify sample bias caused by IBF in an un-pumped high-yield well, and the influence of pumping rate and heterogeneity on the volume of pumpage required to purge an IBF plume. The results show that (1) the pumping rate must be at least an order of magnitude greater than the IBF rate to achieve permeability-weighted yield, (2) purge volume was 2.2 to 20.6 times larger than the IBF plume volume, with the ratio depending on plume location relative to hydraulic conductivity and head distributions, and (3) after an example 1000-day un-pumped period, purging required removal of at least three orders of magnitude more water than the common practice of three to five well volumes. These results highlight the importance of knowing the borehole flow regime to identify IBF inflow and outflow zones, estimate IBF rates, and to develop a strategic sampling approach.     

Organic carbon fluxes of a glacier surface: A case study of Foxfonna,a small Arctic glacier

Arctic glaciers are rapidly responding to global warming by releasing organic carbon (OC) to downstream ecosystems. The glacier surface is arguably the most biologically active and biodiverse glacial habitat and therefore the site of important OC transformation and storage, although rates and magnitudes are poorly constrained. In this paper, we present measurements of OC fluxes associated with atmospheric deposition, ice melt, biological growth, fluvial transport and storage (in superimposed ice and cryoconite debris) for a supraglacial catchment on Foxfonna glacier, Svalbard (Norway), across two consecutive years. We found that in general atmospheric OC input (averaging 0.63 ± 0.25 Mg a^-1 total organic carbon, i.e. TOC, and 0.40 ± 0.22 Mg a^-1 dissolved organic carbon, i.e. DOC) exceeded fluvial OC export (0.46 ± 0.04 Mg a^-1 TOC and 0.36 ± 0.03 Mg a^-1 DOC). Early in the summer, OC was mobilised in snowmelt but its release was delayed by temporary storage in superimposed ice on the glacier surface. This delayed the export of 28.5% of the TOC in runoff. Biological production in cryoconite deposits was a negligible potential source of OC to runoff, while englacial ice melt was far more important on account of the glacier's negative ice mass balance (–0.89 and –0.42 m a^-1 in 2011 and 2012, respectively). However, construction of a detailed OC budget using these fluxes shows an excess of inputs over outputs, resulting in a net retention of OC on the glacier surface at a rate that would require c. 3 years to account for the OC stored as cryoconite debris. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting Water Resource Impacts of Unconventional Gas Using Simple Analytical Equations

The rapid expansion in unconventional gas development over the past two decades has led to concerns over the potential impacts on groundwater resources. Although numerical models are invaluable for assessing likelihood of impacts at particular sites, simpler analytical models are also useful because they help develop hydrological understanding. Analytical approaches are also valuable for preliminary assessments and to determine where more complex models are warranted. In this article, we present simple analytical solutions that can be used to predict: (1) the spatial extent of drawdown from horizontal wells drilled into the gas‐bearing formation, and rate of recovery after gas production ceases; (2) the potential for upward transport of contaminants from the gas‐bearing formation to shallow aquifers during hydraulic fracturing operations when pressures in the gas‐bearing formation are greatly increased; and (3) the potential downward leakage of water from shallow aquifers during depressurization of gas‐bearing formations. In particular, we show that the recovery of pressure after production ceases from gas‐bearing shale formations may take several hundred years, and we present critical hydraulic conductivity values for intervening aquitards, below which the impact on shallow aquifers will be negligible. The simplifying assumptions inherent in these solutions will limit their predictive accuracy for site‐specific assessments, compared to numerical models that incorporate knowledge of spatial variations in formation properties and which may include processes not considered in the simpler solutions.     

The age and growth of hottentot seabream Pachymetopon blochii before and after the South African linefish state of emergency in 2000

The hottentot seabream Pachymetopon blochii is a small-sized (maximum 2.67 kg) sparid endemic to southern Africa. It is an important target in South Africa's Western Cape traditional linefishery, particularly in the absence of more valuable pelagic species (such as Thyrsites atun and Seriola lalandi). In 2000, South Africa's linefishery was declared to be in a state of emergency, and commercial fishing effort was consequently reduced by 70%. A subsequent increase in stock biomass and intraspecific competition, coupled with environmental changes, were hypothesised to have thereafter altered the growth rate of hottentot, from 2000 to 2010. This study aimed to revise outdated age–growth models for the hottentot by using modern techniques (sectioned otoliths), and to compare age–growth relationships before and after the declared linefish state of emergency. The maximum age observed was 19 years, with no difference in the growth rate between sexes (p = 0.39–0.43) or time-periods (p = 0.96). Although the growth rate did not change, there is evidence that the age structure of the stock changed between time-periods as a result of changes in fishing pressure between 2000 and 2010. The enhanced recent growth model for hottentot, described as L_t = 418.063 (1 – e^{?0.104(t – [?4.709])}) (pooled sexes; n = 206), indicates a considerably slower growth rate for this species than was proposed previously using whole otoliths and has major implications for effective stock management.     

Development of the HEFT and NuSTAR focusing telescopes

Hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray astrophysics is on the verge of a major advance with the practical realization of technologies capable of efficiently focusing X-rays above 10 keV. Hard X-ray focusing telescopes can achieve orders of magnitude improvements in sensitivity compared to the instruments based on coded apertures and collimated detectors that have traditionally been employed in this energy band. Compact focal planes enable high-performance detectors with good spectral resolution to be employed in efficient, low-background configurations. We have developed multilayer coated grazing incidence optics and solid state Cadmium Zinc Telluride focal plane systems for the High Energy Focusing Telescope (HEFT) balloon-borne experiment, and for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Small Explorer satellite. In this paper we describe the technologies, telescope designs, and performance of both experiments.     

Effect of mining and related activities on the sediment trace element geochemistry of lake coeur D'Alene,idaho, USA. Part I: Surface sediments

During the summer of 1989 surface sediment samples were collected in Lake Coeur d'Alene, the Coeur d'Alene River and the St Joe River, Idaho, at a density of approximately one sample per square kilometre. Additional samples were collected from the banks of the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene and the Coeur d'Alene Rivers in 1991. All the samples were collected to determine trace element concentrations, partitioning and distribution patterns, and to relate them to mining, mining related and discharge operations that have occurred in the Coeur d'Alene district since the 1880s, some of which are ongoing. Most of the surface sediments in Lake Coeur d'Alene north of Conkling Point and Carey Bay are substantially enriched in Ag, As, Cu, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb and Zn relative to unaffected sediments in the southern portion of the lake near the St Joe River. All the trace element enriched sediments are extremely fine grained (mean grain sizes « 63 μm). Most of the enriched trace elements, based on both the chemical analyses of separated heavy and light mineral fractions and a two step sequential extraction procedure, are associated with an operationally defined Fe oxide phase; much smaller percentages are associated either with operationally defined organics/sulphides or refractory phases. The presence, concentration and distribution of the Fe oxides and heavy minerals indicates that a substantial portion of the enriched trace elements are probably coming from the Coeur d'Alene River, which is serving as a point source. Within the lake, this relatively simple point source pattern is complicated by a combination of (1) the formation of trace element rich authigenic Fe oxides that appear to have reprecipitated from material solubilized from anoxic bed sediments and (2) physical remobilization by currents and wind driven waves. The processes that have caused the trace element enrichment in the surface sediments of Lake Coeur d'Alene are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.