The role of hydrothermal fluids in sedimentation in saline alkaline lakes: Evidence from Nasikie Engida,Kenya Rift Valley

Saline alkaline lakes that precipitate sodium carbonate evaporites are most common in volcanic terrains in semi‐arid environments. Processes that lead to trona precipitation are poorly understood compared to those in sulphate‐dominated and chloride‐dominated lake brines. Nasikie Engida (Little Magadi) in the southern Kenya Rift shows the initial stages of soda evaporite formation. This small shallow (<2 m deep; 7 km long) lake is recharged by alkaline hot springs and seasonal runoff but unlike neighbouring Lake Magadi is perennial. This study aims to understand modern sedimentary and geochemical processes in Nasikie Engida and to assess the importance of geothermal fluids in evaporite formation. Perennial hot‐spring inflow waters along the northern shoreline evaporate and become saturated with respect to nahcolite and trona, which precipitate in the southern part of the lake, up to 6 km from the hot springs. Nahcolite (NaHCO₃) forms bladed crystals that nucleate on the lake floor. Trona (Na₂CO₃·NaHCO₃·2H₂O) precipitates from more concentrated brines as rafts and as bottom‐nucleated shrubs of acicular crystals that coalesce laterally to form bedded trona. Many processes modify the fluid composition as it evolves. Silica is removed as gels and by early diagenetic reactions and diatoms. Sulphate is depleted by bacterial reduction. Potassium and chloride, of moderate concentration, remain conservative in the brine. Clastic sedimentation is relatively minor because of the predominant hydrothermal inflow. Nahcolite precipitates when and where pCO₂ is high, notably near sublacustrine spring discharge. Results from Nasikie Engida show that hot spring discharge has maintained the lake for at least 2 kyr, and that the evaporite formation is strongly influenced by local discharge of carbon dioxide. Brine evolution and evaporite deposition at Nasikie Engida help to explain conditions under which ancient sodium carbonate evaporites formed, including those in other East African rift basins, the Eocene Green River Formation (western USA), and elsewhere.     

西藏当雄九子拉地区石炭系诺错组中震积岩的发现及意义

西藏当雄九子拉地区石炭系诺错组地层序列中,首次发现了一套非正常沉积的粉砂岩和灰岩的组合.岩系中可识别出非正常的沉积构造,即微同沉积断裂、火焰状构造、同生变形构造及振动液化泄水构造等,这一软沉积变形构造具震积岩的识别标志特征,代表灾变事件震积的地质记录.在剖面结构上大致显示为7个单元的震积序列,自下而上由下伏弱震层(A)—液化脉(B)—震褶岩(C)—震裂岩(D)—阶梯状微断层(E)—火焰状构造(F)—上覆未震层(G)的渐变过程及震积作用逐渐减弱的趋势呈不同形式的组合出现,有ABG、ACDG、AEG、ABCG和ABFG等组合.本研究分析认为晚古生代诺错组早期存在一个强烈的构造活动时期,结合震积岩的分布及区域地质背景研究表明,九子拉北侧一带可能为近东西向同生断裂带,该断裂带的强烈构造活动是本区诺错组震积作用的直接诱发因素.从而佐证了九子拉地区正处于构造转换阶段.本研究对分析晚古生代的构造演化、沉积盆地类型奠定了基础,同时保存完好的震积事件地层记录对推断古断裂、古环境也具有较大意义.     

Review: Theory-guided machine learning applied to hydrogeology—state of the art,opportunities and future challenges

Hydrogeology Journal - Thanks to recent technological advances, hydrogeologists now have access to large amounts of data acquired in real time. Processing these data using traditional modelling...     

A water retention model accounting for void ratio changes in double porosity clays

This paper presents a constitutive model that predicts the water retention behaviour of compacted clays with evolving bimodal pore size distributions. In line with previous research, the model differentiates between the water present inside the saturated pores of the clay aggregates (the microstructure) and the water present inside the pores between clay aggregates (the macrostructure). A new formulation is then introduced to account for the effect of the macrostructural porosity changes on the retention behaviour of the soil, which results in a consistent evolution of the air-entry value of suction with volumetric deformations. Data from wetting tests on three different active clays (i.e. MX-80 bentonite, FEBEX bentonite, and Boom clay), subjected to distinct mechanical restraints, were used to formulate, calibrate, and validate the proposed model. Results from free swelling tests were also modelled by using both the proposed double porosity model and a published single porosity model, which confirmed the improvement in the predictions of degree of saturation by the present approach. The proposed retention model might be applied, for example, to the simulation of the hydromechanical behaviour of engineered bentonite barriers in underground nuclear waste repositories, where compacted active clays are subjected to changes of both suction and porosity structure under restrained volume conditions.

     

Dissociation constants of protonated cysteine species in seawater media

The dissociation constants (pK₁, pK₂ and pK₃) for cysteine have been measured in seawater as a function of temperature (5 to 45 °C) and salinity (S = 5 to 35). The seawater values were lower than the values in NaCl at the same ionic strength. In an attempt to understand these differences, we have made measurements of the constants in Na–Mg–Cl solutions at 25 °C. The measured values have been compared to those calculated from the Pitzer ionic interaction model. The lower values of pK₃ in the Na–Mg–Cl solutions have been attributed to the formation of Mg²⁺ complexes with Cys²⁻ anions

Mg²⁺ + Cys²⁻ = MgCys

The stability constants have been fitted to

after corrections are made for the interaction of Mg²⁺ with H⁺.The pK₁ seawater measurements indicate that H₃Cys⁺ interacts with SO₄²⁻. The Pitzer parameters β⁰(H₃CysSO₄), β¹(H₃CysSO₄) and C(H₃CysSO₄) have been determined for this interaction. The formation of CaCys as well as MgCys are needed to account for the values of pK₂ and pK₃ in seawater.The consideration of the formation of MgCys and CaCys in seawater yields model calculated values of pK₁, pK₂ and pK₃ that agree with the measured values to within the experimental error of the measurements. This study shows that it is important to consider all of the ionic interactions in natural waters when examining the dissociation of organic acids.     

Does sediment grain size affect diatom grazing by harpacticoid copepods?

Estuarine soft sediments support a diverse group of eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms though the role of the sediment per se for the functioning of these organisms remains largely unknown. The present study aimed to test the effect of sediment grain size on the grazing activities of harpacticoid copepods. In controlled experiments, two common intertidal harpacticoid species (Paramphiascella fulvofasciata and Nitokra spinipes) were each offered a mix of two benthic diatom species (Navicula phyllepta and Seminavis robusta) in different sedimentary conditions. Several microcosms were created using a variety of sediment types, including fine silt (<63 microm), coarser grained sands (125-250, 250-450, 100-300 microm), artificial 'sediments' of glass beads (250-500, 2000 microm) and even the absence of sediment was tested. The diatoms were enriched in the stable carbon (13)C to facilitate tracing in the harpacticoids. Both copepod species were able to graze on the diatoms with highest uptake when sediment was absent. In contrast, both harpacticoid species showed no uptake in silty conditions. In general, grazing was favoured when mean sediment grain size increased. The strong negative effect of fine grains on the grazer's efficiency can be explained by the resulting differences in the structure (and accessibility) of the diatom biofilm on the one hand and the mobility of the grazer on the other hand. In view of the subtle equilibrium between primary producers and grazers, these results might have important implications for the effect of siltation of tidal flats due to, e.g., human activities.     

基于GIS和RS的西藏森林火险等级计算方法

基于遥感技术(RS)和地理信息系统(GIS),利用由基于DEM演算的地面最高温度、最小相对湿度和最大风速等格点化气象要素,FY2静止气象卫星逐日降水反演产品和AVHRR积雪监测产品计算网格森林火险天气等级,结合由植被类型、NDVI、地形要素和公路、人口聚居地等要素评估的森林火险风险等级,综合计算得到网格化的西藏森林火险等级。该项业务程序基于MeteoInfo组件建立,能够实现全自动化业务运行。对于森林火灾事件,通过与基于气象站的森林火险天气等级相比,该方法的准确性更高,能为西藏林区森林防火工作提供有效参考。     

城市中心体系研究的理论基础与分析框架

“经济—空间”视角下城市中心体系的理论与实证研究之间缺少相互衔接的分析框架。论文通过对经典理论的系统归纳与演绎,建立整体视角下理解城市中心体系形成与发展的理论框架,将城市中心体系的发展规律概括为空间竞争和空间联系2个机制,体现在本地服务功能和非本地功能的空间组织过程,分别形成等级网状结构和专业化点状结构,并相互融合形成“半网格”的城市中心体系,扮演着本地与宏观区域结构之间的“转换发动机”。最后探讨了对实证研究的若干启示,提出城市中心的定义和识别方法应注意与理论研究相互衔接;认为城市中心的本地/非本地功能特征及相应的发展机制亟待实证;认为中心及其空间影响的调控潜力是制定规划政策的前提。     

Proactive Management of Ecosystem Services in Oil Sands Pre-mining Phase

Natural Resources Research - Ecosystems and their services are essential to human well-being, but mining activities often cause adverse impacts on these services. Although impact of mining...     

Geometry and kinematics of brittle deformation in the Central Cameroon Shear Zone (Kékem area): Implication for gold exploration within the Central Africa Fold Belt in Cameroon

The Central Africa Fold Belt (CAFB) is a collision belt endowed with gold deposits in Eastern Cameroon area mined for about 50 years. However, favorable areas for gold exploration are poorly known. This paper presents (1) the kinematics of the brittle deformation in the Kékem area in the SW portion of the Central Cameroon Shear Zone and (2) constraints gold mineralization events with respect to the collisional evolution of the CAFB. The authors interpret that the conjugate ENE to E and NNW to NW trending lineament corresponds to the synthetic (R) and the antithetic (R’) shears, which accompanied the dextral slip along the NE to ENE striking shear. The latter coincides with the last 570–552 Ma D₃ dextral simple shear-dominated transpression, which is parallel to the Bétaré Oya shear zone hosting gold deposits. Gold mineralizations, which mainly occurred during the last dextral shearing, are disseminated within quartz veins associated to Riedel’s previous structures reactivated due to late collisional activities of the CAFB as brittle deformation. Gold mineralizations occurred mainly during the 570–552 Ma D₃ event. The reactivation, which might be due to dextral simple shear during mylonitzation, plausibly remobilized the early gold deposits hosted in syn-compressional rocks and/or possibly focused deep-sourced fluid mixed with those released by dehydration. Therefore, the Central Cameroon Shear Zone where Kékem is located, and which shows similar petrographical and structural features to those controling Batouri gold district, is a target area for gold exploration in Cameroon.