Origin and Evolution of Aquitard Porewater in the Western Coastal Plain of Bohai Bay,China

High‐salinity paleowater from low‐permeability aquitards in coastal areas can be a major threat to groundwater resources; however, such water has rarely been studied. The chemical and isotopic compositions of porewater extracted from a 200‐m‐thick Quaternary sedimentary sequence in the western coastal plain of Bohai Bay, China, were analyzed to investigate the salinity origin and chemical evolution of porewater in aquitards. Porewater samples derived at depths shallower than 32 m are characterized by Cl‐Na type saline water (total dissolved solids [TDS], 10.9–84.3 g/L), whereas those at depths greater than 32 m comprise Cl·SO₄‐Na type brackish water (TDS, 2.2–6.3 g/L). Saline porewater is interpreted as evaporated seawater prior to halite saturation, as evidenced by Cl‐Br relationships. Although substantial dilution of saline porewater with meteoric water is supported by a wider Cl^? range and δ²H‐δ¹⁸O covariance, the original marine waters were not completely flushed out. The deeper brackish porewater is determined to be a mixture of fresher porewater and brine groundwater and had a component of old brine of less than 10%, as indicated by a mixing model defined using δ²H and Cl^? tracers. Porewater δ²H‐δ¹⁸O relationships and negative deuterium excess ranging from ?25.9‰ to ?2.9‰ indicate the existence of an arid climate since Late Pleistocene in Tianjin Plain. The aquitard porewaters were chemically modified through water‐rock interactions due to the long residence time.     

Groundwater Microbial Communities Along a Generalized Flowpath in Nomhon Area,Qaidam Basin,China

Spatial distribution (horizonal and vertical) of groundwater microbial communities and the hydrogeochemistry in confined aquifers were studied approximately along the groundwater flow path from coteau to plain in the Nomhon area, Qinghai‐Tibet plateau, China. The confined groundwater samples at different depths and locations were collected in three boreholes through a hydrogeological section in this arid and semi‐arid area. The phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA genes and multivariate statistical analysis were used to elucidate similarities and differences between groundwater microbial communities and hydrogeochemical properties. The integrated isotopic geochemical measurements were applied to estimate the source and recharge characteristics of groundwater. The results showed that groundwater varied from fresh to saline water, and modern water to ancient water following the flowpath. The recharge characteristics of the saline water was distinct with that of fresh water. Cell abundance did not vary greatly along the hydrogeochemical zonality; however, dissimilarities in habitat‐based microbial community structures were evident, changing from Betaproteobacteria in the apex of alluvial fan to Gammaproteobacteria and then to Epsilonproteobacteria in the core of the basin (alluvial‐lacustrine plain). Rhodoferax, Hydrogenophaga, Pseudomonas, and bacterium isolated from similar habitats unevenly thrived in the spatially distinct fresh water environments, while Sulfurimonas dominanted in the saline water environment. The microbial communities presented likely reflected to the hydrogeochemical similarities and zonalities along groundwater flowpath.     

Numerical Analysis of Groundwater Ridging Processes Considering Water‐Air Flow in a Hillslope

In this study, a water‐air two‐phase flow model was employed to investigate the formation, extension, and dissipation of groundwater ridging induced by recharge events in a hypothetical hillslope‐riparian zone, considering interactions between the liquid and gas phases in soil voids. The simulation results show that, after a rain begins, the groundwater table near the stream is elevated instantaneously and significantly, thereby generating a pressure gradient driving water toward both the stream (the discharge of groundwater to the stream) and upslope (the extension of groundwater ridging into upslope). Meanwhile, the airflow upslope triggered by the advancing wetting front moves downward gradually. Therefore, the extension of groundwater ridging into upslope and the downward airflow interact within a certain region. After the rain stops, groundwater ridging near the stream declines quickly while the airflow in the lower part of upslope is still moving into the hillslope. Thus, the airflow upslope mitigates the dissipation of groundwater ridging. Additionally, the development of groundwater ridging under different conditions, including rain intensity, intrinsic permeability, capillary fringe height, and initial groundwater table, was analyzed. Changes in intrinsic permeability affect the magnitude of groundwater ridging near the stream, as well as the downward speed of airflow, thereby generating highly complex responses. The capillary fringe is not a controlling factor but an influence factor on the formation of groundwater ridging, which is mainly related to the antecedent moisture. It was demonstrated that groundwater ridging also occurs where an unsaturated zone occurs above the capillary fringe with a subsurface lateral flow.     

Elastic one-return boundary element method and hybrid elastic thin-slab propagator for strong-contrast media with sharp boundaries

In this paper, we developed the theory and algorithm of an elastic one-way boundary element method(BEM) and a corresponding hybrid elastic thin-slab propagator for earth media with sharp boundaries between strong contrast media. This approach can takes the advantage of accurate boundary condition of BEM and completely overcomes the weak contrast limitation of the perturbationtheory based one-way operator approach. The one-way BEM is a smooth boundary approximation, which avoids huge matrix operations in exact full BEM. In addition, the one-way BEM can model the primary-only transmitted and reflected waves and therefore is a valuable tool in elastic imaging and inversion. Through numerical tests for some simple models,we proved the validity and efficiency of the proposed method.     

Advance of research on modern soil phytolith

Phytolith study is a new branch of micropaleontology with an increasingly important role in geology, archaeology, and plant taxonomy. Phytoliths have several advantages considering their characteristics of small particle size, high production, wide distribution, anti-decomposition, in situ deposition, distinctive morphologies, and element sequestrating capacity. Phytolith assemblages in modern soil have been found to be closely related to modern vegetation types and climate conditions, which forms the basis for the quantitative study of paleoecology, paleoclimate, and bio-geochemical cycles. At present, phytolith studies generally focus on the following four aspects: (1) Morphology: about 260 unduplicated types of phytoliths have been identified in modern soil, of which 110 types are from grasses, 50 types from ferns, woody plants and other angiosperms, whereas the origin plants of the remaining 100 types are still under investigation. (2) Soil phytolith assemblages and vegetation: phytolith assemblages from the topsoil have been used to distinguish surface vegetation types including different forests and grasslands over a typical region. This model has been applied to restore past vegetation conditions and monitor the dynamic evolution of specific vegetation types at different temporal and spatial scales. (3) Soil phytolith assemblages and climate: quantitative and semi-quantitative relationships between phytolith assemblages and a series of climate parameters, such as annual mean temperature, annual mean precipitation and altitude, have been established through mathematical analysis. In this manner, quantitative reconstruction of paleoclimatic parameters has been achieved through the phytolith-climate transfer function model. (4) Soil phytolith and its sequestered elements: in this topic, the content of soil PhytOC (Phytolith-occluded Organic Carbon) and the importance of PhytOC in the bio-geochemical cycle have been the focus. The study of modern soil phytoliths has provided new approaches and many successful cases for solving specific problems in various fields, such as Earth science and archaeology. This study analyzed existing issues in addition to the abovementioned significant progresses, and provides directions for future research on modern soil phytoliths.     

基于3DS MAX和MultiGen Creator的虚拟地理信息系统建模的比较分析

在虚拟地理信息系统建设和应用中,构建模型是系统建立的基础,是系统运行效果和效率的关键。就两种流行的建模软件3DS MAX和MultiGen Creator在虚拟地理信息系统中的应用进行比较,以虚拟现实项目制作流程作为基础,总结了它们在实际建模过程中的优劣,便于虚拟地理信息系统建设中合理选择建模软件。     

南极搜救体系现状与影响及我国的对策研究

伴随各类南极活动的增多, 如何尽可能地减少和避免遇险、遇难事件并更好地进行搜救成为南极活 动各国重点关注的问题之一。在国际海事组织(IMO)和国际民航组织(ICAO)所划分搜救区域的基础上, 南极 地区形成了以距离南极最近的5 个国家为主导的南极搜救体系。各国的搜救职责依4 个国际公约确立。承 担搜救责任的5 个国家基于本国的搜救体系, 开展国际合作, 在南极搜救方面发挥了重要的作用和贡献。在 现有南极条约体系框架下, 南极搜救活动难免会对相关国家在南极的实质性存在、极地安全等问题产生一 定的影响。我国作为参与南极活动的主要国家之一, 在南极有着重要的利益诉求, 有必要通过完善相关的硬 件设施、提升搜救软实力等途径来提高我国的南极搜救活动参与度, 强化我国在南极的实质性存在与影响, 增强对南极事务的话语权。     

长江下游区域地温场特征及其能源意义

区域地热特征及深部温度估算对于油气勘探和地热能资源评价和开发利用具有重要意义,长江下游地区是我国东部经济社会高度发达的地区,其能源需求大,区域热状态研究能为该区地热资源评价提供关键约束。通过整合长江下游地区已有的温度数据和实测岩石物性参数,勾勒出该区的现今地温场特征,并进一步估算其1 000~5 000 m埋深处的地层温度。研究表明,长江下游地区现今地温梯度为16~41 ℃/km,且以18~25 ℃/km居多,苏北盆地区呈现高地温梯度。大地热流值为48~80 mW/m²,其均值为60 mW/m²,表现为中等的地热状态,有利于油气和地热能形成。此外,长江下游地区深部地温估算表明,1 000 m埋深处的温度范围为30~54 ℃,2 000 m时温度范围为50~95 ℃,3 000 m时温度范围为65~130 ℃,4 000 m时温度范围为80~170 ℃,5 000 m时温度范围为100~210 ℃。区域深部地温的展布趋势呈NE向,高温区域集中在安徽南部和江苏东北部。结合60 ℃和120 ℃等温线的埋深分布及区域地质、地球化学和地热特征,初步探讨了该区油气与地热资源的有利区带及其相应的开发利用类型。     

Risk evaluation of dam-break environmental impacts based on the set pair analysis and cloud model

Natural Hazards - Many dams have been constructed around the world. Compared with the potential losses of life and economy, the environmental impacts caused by dam breach were less analyzed. As a...