Fault displacement modelling using 3D vector fields

In history matching and sensitivity analysis, flexibility in the structural modelling is of great importance. The ability to easily generate multiple realizations of the model will have impact both on the updating workflow in history matching and uncertainty studies based on Monte Carlo simulations. The main contribution to fault modelling by the work presented in this paper is a new algorithm for calculating a 3D displacement field applicable to a wide range of faults due to a flexible representation. This gives the possibility to apply this field to change the displacement and thereby moving horizons and fault lines. The fault is modelled by a parametric format where the fault has a reference plane defined by a centre point, dip and strike angles. The fault itself is represented as a surface defined by a function z = f(x,y), where x, y and z are coordinates local to the reference plane, with the z-axis being normal to the plane. The displacement associated with the fault outside the fault surface is described by a 3D vector field. The displacement on the fault surface can be found by identifying the intersection lines between horizons and the fault surface (fault lines), and using kriging techniques to fill in values at all points on the surface. Away from the fault surface the displacement field is defined by a monotonic decreasing function which ensures zero displacement at a specified distance from the fault. An algorithm is developed where the displacement can be increased or decreased according to user-defined parameters. This means that the whole displacement field is changed and points on horizons around the fault can be moved accordingly by applying the modified displacement field on them. The interaction between several faults influencing the same points is taken care of by truncation rules and the ordering of the faults. The method is demonstrated on a realistic synthetic case based on a real reservoir.     

Influence of an oxygen minimum zone and macroalgal enrichment on benthic megafaunal community composition in a NE Pacific submarine canyon

Megafaunal diversity in the deep sea shows a parabolic pattern with depth. It can be affected by factors such as low oxygen concentration, which suppresses diversity, or the presence of submarine canyons, which enhances it. Barkley Canyon, located off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada, is a submarine canyon that extends from the continental margin (200 m) into the deep ocean (2,000 m). This canyon receives drift kelp from shoreline kelp forests and contains an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) at 500 to 1,500 m depth. Our study investigated the abundance and diversity of epibenthic megafauna over a range of depths (200–2,000 m) and oxygen concentrations (0.5–5.0 ml/L) within Barkley Canyon, as well as changes in abundance near detrital kelp. Video was collected using the remotely operated vehicle ROPOS along seven 1‐km cross‐canyon (i.e., across the axis of the canyon) transects and three 40‐m perpendicular cross‐transects over kelp. Taxonomic groups were associated with depth, temperature, and the presence of pebbles. The OMZ restricted pennatulids, and edge effects along OMZ boundaries were observed for ophiuroids. The geomorphology of the sea floor affected the distribution of taxa across the canyon, with Porifera mainly found along the walls and Echinoidea within the canyon axis. Expected richness exhibited a bimodal pattern, peaking at 300 and 2,000 m, possibly due to the combined effect of the OMZ and the submarine canyon. Echinoidea aggregated near drift kelp at 200 and 300 m. We found that faunal communities in Barkley Canyon were influenced by several confounded factors including depth, oxygen and substrate. Understanding faunal patterns is paramount with increased exploitation and a changing climate.     

On the origin of microrhythmic layering in arfvedsonite lujavrite from the Ilímaussaq alkaline complex, South Greenland

Microrhythmic layering is locally developed in agpaitic arfvedsonite lujavrite from the Ilímaussaq alkaline complex, South Greenland. Three–15-cm-thick laminated dark layers alternate with 1–10-cm-thick, light-coloured granular urtitic layers. Dark layers are uniform (isomodal) but the urtitic layers are enriched in early nepheline and eudialyte in their lower parts and in late analcime and REE phosphate minerals in the upper parts. The layers are separated by sharp contacts; they are draped around rafts from the overlying roof zone and lack structures indicative of current processes or post-cumulus deformation. Compared with the background arfvedsonite lujavrite of the complex, the dark layers are richer in sodalite, microcline and arfvedsonite and poorer in analcime and eudialyte. They have higher K₂O, Cl, FeO and S but lower Na₂O, H₂O⁺, Zr and P contents, the opposite of the light-coloured layers. The complementary chemistry of the two types of layers oscillates about the composition of the background arfvedsonite lujavrite. Layers probably formed in a stagnant bottom layer of the lujavrite magma chamber. Each layer started as a liquid layer which exchanged components with the underlying crystallization front. On cooling, it crystallized primocrysts and exchanged components with the overlying magma which became a new, complementary liquid layer and, during further cooling and burial within the sequence of layers, it underwent largely closed-system interstitial crystallization. Exhaustion of Cl and a sharp decrease in a_NaCl relative to a_H2O terminated the crystallization of a sodalite-rich dark layer and initiated abundant crystallization of nepheline in the overlying liquid layer (urtitic layer). The layered sequence represents a local K₂O-, Cl-rich but Na₂O-, H₂O-poor facies of arfvedsonite lujavrite and may have formed by exchanging components with sodalite-bearing rafts from the roof zone.     

A quantitative approach for the evaluation of rockfall risk on buildings

Natural Hazards - A quantitative rockfall risk analysis at local scale is a complex and difficult task because it should consider both the randomness in the natural phenomenon and the variability...     

A parallel TreeSPH code for galaxy formation

We describe a new implementation of a parallel TreeSPH code with the aim of simulating galaxy formation and evolution. The code has been parallelized using shmem , a Cray proprietary library to handle communications between the 256 processors of the Silicon Graphics T3E massively parallel supercomputer hosted by the Cineca Super-computing Center (Bologna, Italy). ¹
The code combines the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method for solving hydrodynamical equations with the popular Barnes & Hut tree-code to perform gravity calculation with an N ×log  N scaling, and it is based on the scalar TreeSPH code developed by Carraro et al. Parallelization is achieved by distributing particles along processors according to a workload criterion.
Benchmarks, in terms of load balance and scalability, of the code are analysed and critically discussed against the adiabatic collapse of an isothermal gas sphere test using 2×10⁴ particles on 8 processors. The code results balance at more than the 95 per cent level. Increasing the number of processors, the load balance slightly worsens. The deviation from perfect scalability for increasing number of processors is almost negligible up to 32 processors. Finally, we present a simulation of the formation of an X-ray galaxy cluster in a flat cold dark matter cosmology, using 2×10⁵ particles and 32 processors, and compare our results with Evrard's P³M–SPH simulations.
Additionally we have incorporated radiative cooling, star formation, feedback from SNe of types II and Ia, stellar winds and UV flux from massive stars, and an algorithm to follow the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium. Simulations with some of these ingredients are also presented.     

基于重熔型花岗岩体开成机制探讨热穹构造成型过程：例析大别地区西熊文岩体及其穹状构造

从岩石－构造学标志、同位素（Ｓｒ,Ｎｄ）组成、组分等浓度图、年龄－温度冷却曲线和钙质角闪石压力计等方面论述西熊文岩体形成的动力学过程及其与穹状构造成型过程的联系。认为：大别地块西部的西熊文岩体为同隆升重熔型于长花岗岩。造山期后大别地块的隆升－剥露过程驱使地壳深部流变物质减压、局部熔融产生的花岗岩浆呈底臂式上冲侵位,并同时带动、协调未熔融的变质流变围岩侵位,,并冷却于适可的温压、深度形成同隆升热动力穹状构造(热穹构造);熔融过程的性质和体积改变量以及岩体的侵位事率、冷却过程结晶深度和就位年龄等参数均可作为理解和刻画热穹构造成型过程的重要信息,热穹构造是大别地块在中生代缓慢隆升－剥露过程中的一种次级构造形式。