The acoustic emission from rock under stress and hydraulic pressure

The essential conditions for effective and ecologically safe exploitation of underground waste storage are maintenance, prevention, and monitoring of tightness of rock masses covering and surrounding the reservoir rock complex. This monitoring can be realized by a especially designed acoustic measurement system.The reservoir rock complexes - without leakage - are supposed to be in physical equilibrium; without changes of rock dynamic properties the acoustic emission vanishes. In contrast, as is shown, the results of the field tests carried out in coal mines proved that there was a correlation between the stresses and the acoustic emission ratio. The laboratory experiments also showed correlation between changes of permeability of coal samples and acoustic emission.the explanation of the observed results is based on the development of inelastic deformation of a rock skeleton. The plastic strains in the porous rock appear after overcoming the yield point. The yield point value can be extended by increase of shear stresses, effective stresses and interstitial pressure.In particular, there are three kinds of dynamic phases which may appear preceding the failure of leak tightness:

1. (1) breaking of the rock masses due to stress (Griffith criterion of stability may be expressed in terms of the acoustic emission parameters),

2. (2) the dilatant corrosion of pressure plasticity resulting from chemical, physical and thermal activities, and

3. (3) the destructive increase of pressure in rock pores.

This paper presents the statistical parameters describing the acoustic emission from the rock mass and the dynamic processes mentioned above are described in terms of seismoacoustic activity.     

Compounds with mixed and intermediate sulfur valences as precursors of banded sulfides in carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposits in Belgium and Poland

Compounds of Fe, Pb and Zn with mixed and intermediate sulfur valences form ubiquitous inclusions and relics in banded sphalerite, pyrite-melnikovite and galena. Banded sulfides continuously grade into banded compounds with mixed and intermediate sulfur valences, the latter with a fibrous microtexture. A fibrous microtexture is also shown by banded sphalerite and pyrite from Zn-Pb deposits of Belgium and Poland. It is therefore suggested that the fibrous sphalerite inherited such a microtexture, unusual for cubic ZnS, by direct replacement of a fibrous precursor with mixed and/or intermediate sulfur valences. The last band of banded sphalerite is often overgrown by idiomorphic, isometric sphalerite precipitated directly from the solution as ZnS. The following Fe, Pb and Zn compounds with mixed and intermediate sulfur valences were found in carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposits of Belgium and Poland: sulfoxylanes (M²⁺SO₂; S²⁺), subsulfites (M²⁺S₂O₄; S³⁺), sulfites (M²⁺SO₃; S⁴⁺), pyrosulfites (M²⁺S₂O₅; S⁴⁺) and thiosulphates(M²⁺S₂O₃; S^2– and S⁶⁺).     

Changes of GPR spectra due to the presence of hydrocarbon contamination in the ground

The location of hydrocarbon contamination in the ground using the GPR method is based mainly on information taken from reflected signals. In the cases investigated in Polish contaminated sites, such signals were very seldom recorded. A long time after spillage, contamination takes the form of plumes with different size and distribution, which depends on geological and hydraulic properties of the ground. In this paper, it is shown that the set of hydrocarbon plumes should be described with a stochastic model, and such plumes may generate the scattered waves which cause changes in the power spectra. It has been observed that the power spectra of GPR signals over contaminated areas are quite different from such spectra over clear ones. These differences were discussed in this paper on the basis of theoretical analysis, numerical modelling and the results of GPR terrain surveys.     

Environmental challenges in Polish agriculture covering a main area of the Baltic Sea Basin

Poland largely encompases the estuary of the Vistula and Odra rivers, which drain into the Baltic Sea. Only a very small area of the south-east part of the country is within the Black Sea Basin. Poland contributes significantly to the pollution of the Baltic Sea, with biogenic nutrients and organic substances. Poland includes more than half the coastal inhabitants of the Baltic Sea, and they use 40% of the arable land situated there. The contribution to the pollution of this sea with nitrogen, phosphorus and organic substances is approximately 30, 40 and 22%, respectively. The main sources of nutrients are untreated sewage and the runoff and leakage of fertilizers from agricultural land. The natural conditions in Poland are poorer than in Western Europe due to the prevalence of light soils and a short growing period with frequent droughts. After correcting the synthetic index for soil and climate, it was estimated that for each inhabitant of Poland there are 0.3 ha of farmland, which is comparable to that of Western Europe. For the maintenance of the population, intensive agricultural production must be accompanied by environmental protection regulations. Polish agriculture is not only a polluter but also a recipient of pollution, especially the deposits of sulphur and heavy metals emitted by industry and municipal areas. The estimated annual emission of sulphur dioxide is about 4 million t, which equals an average deposit of about 90 kg of sulphur per hectare of farmland. The pedological processes and acid deposits cause more than 60% of agricultural land in Poland to be acidic. The contamination of soils with heavy metals in general is lower than in Western Europe, but in some areas (e.g. Upper Silesia) it exceeds the safe limits.     

Geochemical characteristics of the macromolecular part of crude and biodesulphurised flame coal density fractions

Flame coal (Janina Mine, Poland) was an object of geochemical analyses for changes caused by the process of microbial desulphurisation. Ash content, beryllium, chromium, zinc, cobalt, lithium, manganese, copper, molybdenum, nickel, lead and vanadium concentrations were investigated in coal extracts, its macromolecular part, semi-coke and polar compound fractions of extracts and pyrolysates of crude and biodesulphurised coal density fractions. The macromolecular part of extracted density fractions was pyrolysed giving semi-coke and pyrolysate. These were separated into aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic and polar compounds by thin layer chromatography (TLC). Distributions of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in pyrolysates of the crude and desulphurised coal density fractions were compared by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Extracts, extracted density fractions, semi-coke and polar compound fractions were analysed for concentrations of trace elements. In the crude coal their concentrations in the macromolecular part are related only to coke. However, in the desulphurised coal the participation of the particular trace element increases in pyrolysate polar compound fractions. Its values are in the range from 1% (Mn) to 100% (Cr and Mo). These changes are the best seen in the 1.80-2.30×10³ kg/m³ density fraction. Very high concentrations of trace elements were found in pyrolysate of desulphurised coal density fraction. This can be explained by the partial decomposition of coal macromolecule resulting from desulphurisation. Significant side-cleavage of peripheral groups and lighter aromatic hydrocarbons is possible. The effects of bacterial influence were manifested by the increase of polar compounds contents both in pyrolysates and extracts of the desulphurised coal and changes in distribution of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon as pyrolytical products. These effects increase with mineral substance contents. Moreover, the increase of trace element concentration in coal organic matter occurs. It is reflected by the increase of participation of coal pyrolysate polar fraction in the total concentration of analysed elements in the macromolecular part of a given density fraction. The presented results are a part of the larger research aimed to find an influence of desulphurisation on chemical and technological properties of coal.     

Cycles in mining seismicity

Stochastic models of self-organized criticality and intermittent criticality are used to describe the structure of seismic catalogs. The intermittent models introduce three phases of the seismic cycle: increase in seismic energy, seismic relaxation, and seismic quiescence after the final relaxation. In this paper, seismic mining catalogs from a deep copper mine are searched to find these three phases of the seismic cycle. In spite of the differences between the seismic records from earthquakes and the building of stresses in the mine, the cycles can be estimated in mining seismicity.     

Complementary aspects of linear flood routing modelling and flood frequency analysis

Similarity and differences between linear flood routing modelling (LFRM) and flood frequency analysis (FFA) techniques are presented. The moment matching used in LFRM to approximate the impulse response function (IRF) was applied in FFA to derive the asymptotic bias caused by the false distribution assumption. Proceeding in this way, other estimation methods were used as approximation methods in FFA to derive the asymptotic bias. Using simulation experiments, the above investigation was extended to evaluate the sampling bias. As a feedback, the maximum likelihood method (MLM) can be used for approximating linear channel response (LCR) by the IRFs of conceptual models. Impulse responses of the convective diffusion and kinematic diffusion models were applied and developed as FFA models. Based on kinematic diffusion LFRM, the equivalence of estimation problems of discrete‐continuous distribution and single‐censored sample are shown both for the method of moments (MOM) and the MLM. Hence, the applicability of MOM is extended for the case of censored samples. Owing to the complexity and non‐linearity of hydrological systems and resulting processes, the use of simple models is often questionable. The rationale of simple models is discussed. The problems of model choice and overparameterization are common in mathematical modelling and FF modelling. Some results for the use of simple models in the stationary FFA are presented. The problems of model discrimination are then discussed. Finally, a conjunction of linear stochastic processes and LFRM is presented. The influence of river courses on stochastic properties of the runoff process is shown by combining Gaussian input with the LCR of the simplified Saint Venant model. It is shown that, from the classification of the ways of their development, both LFRM and FFA can benefit. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two-brine model of the genesis of strata-bound Zechstein deposits (Kupferschiefer type), Poland

These Kupferschiefer deposits were probably formed as a result of a mixing of two brines. The upper cold brine (UCB) is an unmineralized brine rich in Na, Ca, Cl and SO₄, with a pH>7 and originating from evaporites overlying the metal-bearing Zechstein rocks. The lower hot brine (LHB) rich in Mg, K, Cl, SO₄ and CO₃ with a pH<=7 formed in sediments in the central part of the Zechstein basin at a depth of 7,000 m. This brine was subjected to heating and upward convection toward the Fore-Sudetic monocline along the bottom of the Z₁ carbonates. During its migration, it caused albitization, serpentinization and leaching of the primary metal deposits in rocks underlying the Zechstein becoming enriched in heavy metals. The mineralization process, being a result of the mixing of the two brines (UCB and LHB), and catalytic oxidation of the organic matter of the black shale were initiated at shallow depths in the area of the Fore-Sudetic monocline. The boundary of the two brines generally overlapped the strike of the black shale.Parts of the deposit with shale-free host rock suggest that the action of two brines alone was capable of producing economic concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn. Where the boundary of the two brines overlaps the autooxidation zone (the black shale bottom) and also coincides with radiation of thucholite, concentrations of noble metals result.The characteristic vertical distribution of the triplet CuPbZn from the bottom upward is universal in the Kupferschiefer environment.