Parallelized combined finite-discrete element (FDEM) procedure using multi-GPU with CUDA

This paper focuses on the efficiency of finite discrete element method (FDEM) algorithmic procedures in massive computers and analyzes the time-consuming part of contact detection and interaction computations in the numerical solution. A detailed operable GPU parallel procedure was designed for the element node force calculation, contact detection, and contact interaction with thread allocation and data access based on the CUDA computing. The emphasis is on the parallel optimization of time-consuming contact detection based on load balance and GPU architecture. A CUDA FDEM parallel program was developed with the overall speedup ratio over 53 times after the fracture from the efficiency and fidelity performance test of models of in situ stress, UCS, and BD simulations in Intel i7-7700K CPU and the NVIDIA TITAN Z GPU. The CUDA FDEM parallel computing improves the computational efficiency significantly compared with the CPU-based ones with the same reliability, providing conditions for achieving larger-scale simulations of fracture.     

合肥盆地钻井地层的同位素测年与地层划分

合肥盆地内部中、新界地层大面积被第四系覆盖，其地层的时代与划分主要依赖已有的6口深井地层资料。由于缺乏可靠的化石记录，这6口深井地层时代与划分一直存在着很大的分歧，制约了对该盆地的油气勘探与远景评价。本文利用这6口深井泥岩类岩屑中自生伊利石，在其结晶度分析基础上，进行了K-Ar同位素测年，成功地获得了不同深度上的地层形成时代。据此地层年龄，文中对这6口深井所钻遇的地层进行了重新的划分。     

陈家庄凸起北坡古近系层序地层特征及沉积体系

陈家庄凸起北坡发育了多种类型的储集体．根据岩心、钻井和测井资料，以层序地层学理论和方法为指导，从分析、识别层序的主要界面，如层序界面、初始湖泛面、最大湖泛面等入手，对陈家庄凸起北坡古近系层序、准层序和体系域进行了划分．通过钻井层序分析与地震层序解释，在层序地层分析的基础上，对沉积体系进行了研究．指出本区发育的低位域水下扇、低位域复合扇、湖扩展体系域滨岸沉积和高位域三角洲沉积等，是进行岩性油藏勘探的有利目标．     

长江流域沿江镉异常示踪与追源的战略与战术

正在进行的多目标地球化学调查成果显示,长江流域存在全流域的Cd异常。长江流域Cd异常示踪与追源研究的长期目标是查明长江流域沿江各主要支流(汇水面积大于5000km2)Cd等重金属元素的物质来源、迁移形式和输入/输出通量、分辨自然源与人为源各自所占份额,建立沿江各支流Cd时空演化模型,监测它的未来发展趋势,对潜在生态效应进行预警预测;短期目标是针对Cd异常的重点地区,如长江源头、三峡库区、湘江流域、江淮流域、长江三角洲及流域内的4大淡水湖泊,查明Cd异常的来源,重建Cd异常形成的地球化学记录,评估可预见的将来(如10～50年)Cd异常的生态效应。     

Archean (about 2500 Ma) anatexis in eastern North China Block

Two Neoarchean alkaline feldspar-rich granites sourced from partially melted granulite-facies granodioritic orthogneiss have been here recognised in the eastern part of the North China Block (NCB). These poorly foliated granites have previously been assumed to be Mesozoic in age and never dated, and so their significance has not been recognised until now. The first granite (AG1) is a porphyritic syenogranite with megacrystic K-feldspar, and the second (AG2) is a quartz syenite with perthitic megacryst. Zircons from the granites yield LA-ICP-MS U-Pb ages of 2499 ± 10 Ma (AG1), and 2492 ± 28 Ma (AG2), which are slightly younger than the granodioritic orthogneiss that they intrude with a crystallisation U-Pb age of 2537 ± 34 Ma. The younger granites have higher assays for SiO₂ (71.91% for AG1 and 73.22% for AG2) and K₂O (7.52% for AG1 and 8.37% for AG2), and much lower assays for their other major element than the granodioritic orthogneiss. All of the granodioritic orthogneiss and granite samples have similar trace element patterns, with depletion in Th, U, Nb, and Ti and enrichment in Rb, Ba, K, La, Ce, and P. This indicates that the granites are derived from the orthogneiss as partial melts. Although they exhibit a similar REE pattern, the granites have much lower total REE contents (30.97×10⁻⁶ for AG1, and 25.93×10⁻⁶ for AG2), but pronounced positive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 8.57 for AG1 and 27.04 for AG2). The granodioritic orthogneiss has an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.70144, εNd(t) value of 3.5, and εHf(t) values ranging from −3.2 to +2.9. The orthogneiss is a product of fractional crystallisation from a dioritic magma, which was derived from a mantle source contaminated by melts derived from a felsic slab. By contrast, the AG1 sample has an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.6926 that is considered too low in value, εNd(t) value of 0.3, and εHf(t) values between +0.57 and +3.82; whereas the AG2 sample has an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.70152, εNd(t) value of 1.3, and εHf(t) values between +0.5 and +14.08. These assays indicate that a Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic disequilibrium exists between the granite and granodioritic orthogneiss. The elevated εHf(t) values of the granites can be explained by the involvement of Hf-bearing minerals, such as orthopyroxene, amphibole, and biotite, in anatectic reactions in the granodioritic orthogneiss. Based on the transitional relationship between the granites and granodioritic orthogneiss and the geochemical characteristics mentioned above, it is concluded that the granites are the product of rapid partial-melting of the granodioritic orthogneiss after granulite-facies metamorphism, and their crystallisation age of about 2500 Ma provides the minimum age of the metamorphism. This about 2500 Ma tectonic-metamorphic event in NCB is similar to the other cratons in India, Antarctica, northern and southern Australia, indicating a possible connection between these cratons during the Neoarchean.     

Petrophysical characterisation of tight sandstone gas reservoirs using nuclear magnetic resonance: a case study of the upper Paleozoic strata in the Kangning area,eastern margin of the Ordos Basin,China

Residual and movable porosity are significant parameters for characterising petrophysical properties, especially in tight reservoirs. Eight tight sandstone samples from the upper Paleozoic gas-bearing strata in the Kangning area, from the eastern margin of the Ordos Basin, were analysed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), petrography, and porosity and permeability tests. The lithology and pore types were identified and classified using petrography and SEM. The residual and movable porosity were obtained with NMR. In addition, NMR was used to visualise pore structure and pore size distribution. The results suggest that the upper Paleozoic sandstones in the study area mainly comprise feldspathic litharenite and litharenite. The sandstone porosity and permeability are low, with means of 5.9% and 0.549 mD, respectively. Four pore types exist in the tight sandstones: residual primary pores, grain dissolution pores, micropores (clay-dominated) and microfractures. The T₂ spectra under water-saturated conditions correlate with pore size and can be used to distinguish small and large pores based on the transverse relaxation time cutoff value of 10 ms, which corresponds to a pore diameter of 0.232 μm. Small pores account for 72% of the pores in the tight sandstones. The continuous bimodal T₂ spectra suggest good connectivity between small and large pores, despite the low porosity and permeability. In this study, the movable porosity of the major tight sandstone gas reservoirs is higher than the residual porosity, which confirms the effective evaluation of movable porosity to tight sandstone reservoirs, based on NMR experiments.     

Kübler Index and K-Ar Ages of Illite in the Yinshan Polymetallic Deposit, Jiangxi Province, South China: Analyses and Implications

Abstract. The Yinshan polymetallic deposit is a hydrothermal vein-type deposit closely related to Late Jurassic felsic-inter-mediate volcanic-subvolcanic activity in Jiangxi Province, South China. Illite is a major alteration mineral observed in the deposit. Our study shows that the Kübler index of the illite has a close relation to ore-forming fluids of different stages of hydrothermal alteration and mineralization. The early Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization dated at 130–136 Ma is characterized by relatively low water/rock ratios and diffusive fluid movement within phyllite, whereas the later Cu-Au-S mineralization at 122 -125 Ma was accompanied by higher water/rock ratios and localized fluid flow through fractures and channels. Illite formed in the early Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization stage contains swelling layers while the illite formed in the later Cu-Au-S mineralization stage has no swelling layers but was associated with intensive chloritization. The last stage of mineralization (at 104 Ma) was minor and did not produce significant amounts of illite.     

Migrating pingos in the permafrost region of the Tibetan Plateau, China and their hazard along the Golmud–Lhasa railway

Most pingos in the permafrost region of the high northern Tibetan Plateau form along active fault zones and many change position annually along the zones and thus appear to migrate. The fault zones conduct geothermal heat, which thins permafrost, and control cool to hot springs in the region. They maintain ground-water circulation through broken rock in an open system to supply water for pingo growth during the winter in overlying fluvial and lacustrian deposits. Springs remain after the pingos thaw in the summer. Fault movement, earthquakes and man's activities cause the water pathways supplying pingos to shift and consequently the pingos migrate.

The hazard posed to the new Golmud–Lhasa railway across the plateau by migrating pingos is restricted to active fault zones, but is serious, as these zones are common and generate large earthquakes. Pingos have damaged the highway and the oil pipeline adjacent to the railway since 2001. One caused tilting and breaking of a bridge pier and destroyed a highway bridge across the Chumaerhe fault. Another has already caused minor damage to a new railway bridge. Furthermore, the construction of a bridge pier in the North Wuli fault zone in July–August 2003 created a conduit for a new spring, which created a pingo during the following winter. Measures taken to drain the ground-water via a tunnel worked well and prevented damage before the railway tracks were laid. However, pier vibrations from subsequent train motion disrupted the drain and led to new springs, which may induce further pingo growth beneath the bridge.

The migrating pingos result from active fault movement promoting artesian ground-water circulation and changing water pathways under the seasonal temperature variations in the permafrost region. They pose a serious hazard to railway construction, which, in turn can further disturb the ground-water conduits and affect pingo migration.     

在卸荷产生拉剪情况下裂隙岩体的力学行为

据岩体在卸荷情况下的拉剪应力状态,确定了节理岩体的线弹性断裂力学模型。依照此模型,可以得到相对远离裂隙(该位置的点到裂隙中心的距离比裂缝长度大)且受裂隙影响区域内应力、应变和变形方程。这些对评估裂隙岩石变形有重要的参考意义。通过用理论方程的计算结果和卸荷情况下试验观测所得的数据对比,证明该模型应用于实际工程中具有可行性。     

Effects of seismic force and pore water pressure on stability of 3D unsaturated hillslopes

Natural Hazards - Three-dimensional (3D) kinematic limit analysis of unsaturated hillslopes is presented in this paper. Different from the traditional two-dimensional (2D) mechanism based on the...