Geochemical anomaly separation by multifractal modeling in Kahang (Gor Gor) porphyry system,Central Iran

Geochemical anomaly separation using the concentration–area (C–A) method at Kahang (Gor Gor) porphyry system in Central Iran is studied in this work. Lithogeochemical data sets were used in this geochemical survey which was conducted for the exploration for Cu mineralization in dioritic and andesitic units at Kahang Cu–Mo porphyry system. Similar surveys were also carried out for Mo and Au exploration in these rock units. The obtained results have been interpreted using rather extensive set of information available for each mineralized area, consists of detailed geological mapping, structural interpretation and alteration data. Anomalous threshold values for the mineralized zone were computed and compared with the statistical methods based on the data obtained from chemical analysis of samples for the lithological units. Several anomalies at a local scale were identified for Cu (224 ppm), Mo (63 ppm), and Au (31 ppb), and the obtained results suggests existence of local Cu anomalies whose magnitude generally is above 1000 ppm. The correlation between these threshold values and ore grades is clearly interpreted in this investigation. Also, the log–log plots show existence of three stages of Cu enrichment, and two enrichment stages for Mo and Au. The third and most important mineralization event is responsible for the presence of Cu at grades above 1995 ppm. The identified anomalies in Kahang porphyry system, and distribution of the rock types, are mainly monzodiorite and andesitic units, do have special correlation with Cu and monzonitic and dioritic rocks, especially monzodioritic type, which is of considerable emphasis. The threshold values obtained for each element are always lower than their mean content in the rocks. The study shows threshold values for Cu is clearly above the mean rock content, being a consequence of the occurrence of anomalous accumulations of phyllic, argillic and propyllitic alterations within the monzonitic and dioritic rocks especially in monzodioritic type. The obtained results were compared with fault distribution patterns which reveal a positive direct correlation between mineralization in anomalous areas and the faults present in the mineralized system.     

A semi-analytical solution for saltwater intrusion with a very narrow transition zone

The Henry saltwater intrusion problem provides a semi-analytical solution that is largely used for benchmarking density-dependent groundwater flow models. The major drawback of this problem arises from the high dispersion value used by Henry (represented by the dimensionless parameter b?=?0.1). Finding a stable semi-analytical solution for small values of b is challenging due to the low convergence of the corresponding nonlinear system. In this work, an accurate semi-analytical solution is developed in the case of a very narrow transition zone corresponding to b?=?0.005. About 6,330 terms are used in the Fourier series to accurately represent the solution. The resolution of the corresponding highly nonlinear system is made possible by the modified Powell hybrid algorithm due to the analytical evaluation of the Jacobian, which drastically reduces the computational time. The new test problem is also investigated numerically using different numerical methods and different mesh sizes to show its high worthiness, compared to the standard Henry problem, for benchmarking density driven flow codes.     

Thermo-mechanical behavior of energy piles in high plasticity clays

Energy piles make use of constant and moderate ground temperature for efficient thermal control of buildings. However, this use introduces new engineering challenges because the changes of temperature in the foundation pile and ground induce additional deformations and forces in the foundation element and coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical phenomena in the soil. Several published full-scale tests investigated this aspect of energy piles and showed thermally induced deformation and forces in the foundation element. In parallel, significant progress has been made in the understanding of thermal properties of soils and on the effect of cyclic thermal load on ground and foundation behavior. However, the effect of temperature on the creep rate of energy piles has received practically no attention in the past. This paper reports the experimental results of an in situ tension thermo-mechanical test on an energy pile performed in a very stiff high plasticity clay. During the in situ test, the pile was subjected to thermal loading by circulating hot water in fitted pipes, simulating a thermal load in a cooling-dominated climate, at different levels of mechanical loading. The axial strain and temperature in the pile, and the load–displacement of the pile were monitored during the tension test at different locations along the center of the pile and at the pile head, respectively. The data showed that as the temperature increases, the observed creep rate of the energy pile in this high plasticity clay also increases, which will lead to additional time-dependent displacement of the foundation over the life time of the structure. It was also found that the use of geothermal piles causes practically insignificant thermally induced deformation and loads in the pile itself.     

Delineation of mineralization zones in porphyry Cu deposits by fractal concentration–volume modeling

The purpose of this study was to identify the various mineralization zones especially supergene enrichment and hypogene in two different Iranian porphyry Cu deposits, based on subsurface data and by using the proposed concentration–volume (C–V) fractal method. The Sungun and Chah-Firuzeh porphyry Cu deposits, which are situated in NW and SE Iran, respectively, were selected for this study. Straight lines fitted through log–log plots showing C–V relations for Cu were employed to separate supergene enrichment and hypogene zones from oxidation zones and barren host rocks in the two deposits and to distinguish a skarn mineralized zone from the hypogene zone in Sungun deposit. In the proposed C–V fractal method, the identification of mineralization zones is based on power–law relationships between Cu concentrations and the volume of rocks hosting porphyry Cu mineralization. Separate subsurface data from the two deposits were analyzed by C–V fractal method and the results have been compared with geological models which included alteration and mineralogical models. The comparison shows that the interpreted zones based on the C–V fractal method are consistent with the geological models. The proposed C–V method is a new approach to defining zones in a mineral deposit and there was no commercial software available to perform the relevant calculations; therefore, a fractal concentration–volume (FCV) software was designed by the authors to achieve this goal.     

The hydrogeochemical characterization of groundwater in Gafsa-Sidi Boubaker region (Southwestern Tunisia)

Gafsa region is one of the most productive artesian basins in Southern Tunisia. It is located in the southwestern part of the country, and its groundwater resources are developed for water supply and irrigation. Proper understanding of the geochemical evolution of groundwater is important for sustainable development of water resources in this region. A hydrogeochemical survey was conducted on the Plio-Quaternary shallow and on the Complex Terminal aquifers system using major (Ca, Mg, Na, SO₄, Cl, NO₃ and HCO₃) and minor (Sr) elements, in order to evaluate the groundwater chemistry patterns and the main mineralization processes occurring in this system. Hydrochemical and isotopic data were used in conjunction with hydrogeological characteristics to investigate the groundwater composition in these aquifers. It has been demonstrated that groundwaters acquire their mineralization principally by water–rock interaction, i.e. dissolution of evaporites (halite/gypsum, pyrite, etc.) and return flow of irrigation waters, and by anthropogenic activities due to the use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers–pesticides in agriculture. The isotopic study of “stable isotopes, radiocarbon and tritium” (Yermani 2002) shows that a paleoclimatic recharge is corroborated by the relatively low carbon-14 activities (5–25.3%) of the referred groundwater group samples, which were interpreted as recharge occurring during the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene periods. The water feedings of these aquifers are mainly provided by infiltration of precipitations, infiltration of irrigation water, lateral feeding from Cretaceous relieves from the South and the North and along recent and fossil drainage networks that constitute major freshwater sources in groundwater tables (Hamed et al., J Environ Protect 1:466–474, 2010a).     

Extension of the Henry semi-analytical solution for saltwater intrusion in stratified domains

The Henry semi-analytical solution is developed for stratified aquifers with exponential and Gaussian permeability–depth relationships and small dispersion. The semi-analytical solution is sought by expanding the stream function and the concentration in an infinite Fourier series truncated at given orders. Due to the heterogeneity, the semi-analytical solution contains additional terms and quickly becomes impractical because of the high truncation orders required to yield stable results. An appropriate evaluation of the most expensive term, involving fairly complex summations, is proposed to render the computation of the semi-analytical solution affordable. Three configurations with the same transmissivity as that for the homogeneous Henry problem are investigated. The first configuration considers an exponential decay of the permeability (k) with depth. The second and third configurations consider an exponential increase and a Gaussian high-low-high distribution of k with depth, respectively. The three configurations are also investigated numerically using an accurate numerical code based on the method of lines and advanced spatial discretization schemes. An excellent agreement is obtained between the semi-analytical and the numerical solutions for all test cases. The results show that the amount of saltwater intrusion is strongly dependent on the heterogeneity. Further, the heterogeneous Henry problem is found to be more suitable for benchmarking density-driven numerical codes because the numerical solution is more sensitive to the grid size than for the homogeneous problem.     

Geostatistics-Based Method for Irregular Mineral Resource Estimation,in Ouenza Iron Mine,Northeastern Algeria

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Geostatistical techniques are usually practical in the development and production stages of mining projects. The Ouenza deposit is the main iron ore...     

Dimensionality reduction for efficient Bayesian estimation of groundwater flow in strongly heterogeneous aquifers

We focus on the Bayesian estimation of strongly heterogeneous transmissivity fields conditional on data sampled at a set of locations in an aquifer. Log-transmissivity, Y, is modeled as a stochastic Gaussian process, parameterized through a truncated Karhunen–Loève (KL) expansion. We consider Y fields characterized by a short correlation scale as compared to the size of the observed domain. These systems are associated with a KL decomposition which still requires a high number of parameters, thus hampering the efficiency of the Bayesian estimation of the underlying stochastic field. The distinctive aim of this work is to present an efficient approach for the stochastic inverse modeling of fully saturated groundwater flow in these types of strongly heterogeneous domains. The methodology is grounded on the construction of an optimal sparse KL decomposition which is achieved by retaining only a limited set of modes in the expansion. Mode selection is driven by model selection criteria and is conditional on available data of hydraulic heads and (optionally) Y. Bayesian inversion of the optimal sparse KLE is then inferred using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) samplers. As a test bed, we illustrate our approach by way of a suite of computational examples where noisy head and Y values are sampled from a given randomly generated system. Our findings suggest that the proposed methodology yields a globally satisfactory inversion of the stochastic head and Y fields. Comparison of reference values against the corresponding MCMC predictive distributions suggests that observed values are well reproduced in a probabilistic sense. In a few cases, reference values at some unsampled locations (typically far from measurements) are not captured by the posterior probability distributions. In these cases, the quality of the estimation could be improved, e.g., by increasing the number of measurements and/or the threshold for the selection of KL modes.     

Anthropogenic and natural effects on the water and sediments qualities of costal lagoons: case of the Boughrara Lagoon (Southeast Tunisia)

The Boughrara Lagoon located in southern Tunisia shows evidence of eutrophication and the deterioration of water quality. The large amount of water shown to exchange tidally between the lagoon and the open sea suggests that while water per se is important and observed eutrophication problems are not caused by a lack of water. Heavy metal concentrations in surface sediments of the lagoon indicate that the ecosystem degradation is most likely related to the discharge of untreated phosphogypsum. Excessive pumping from the local freshwater aquifer that previously supplied freshwater to the lagoon via sub-aquatique fractures is likely to be a significant factor contributing to the water and sediment quality degradation of Boughrara Lagoon.