On the potential for CO2 mineral storage in continental flood basalts – PHREEQC batch- and 1D diffusion–reaction simulations

Continental flood basalts (CFB) are considered as potential CO₂ storage sites because of their high reactivity and abundant divalent metal ions that can potentially trap carbon for geological timescales. Moreover, laterally extensive CFB are found in many place in the world within reasonable distances from major CO₂ point emission sources. Based on the mineral and glass composition of the Columbia River Basalt (CRB) we estimated the potential of CFB to store CO₂ in secondary carbonates. We simulated the system using kinetic dependent dissolution of primary basalt-minerals (pyroxene, feldspar and glass) and the local equilibrium assumption for secondary phases (weathering products). The simulations were divided into closed-system batch simulations at a constant CO₂ pressure of 100?bar with sensitivity studies of temperature and reactive surface area, an evaluation of the reactivity of H₂O in scCO₂, and finally 1D reactive diffusion simulations giving reactivity at CO₂ pressures varying from 0 to 100?bar. Although the uncertainty in reactive surface area and corresponding reaction rates are large, we have estimated the potential for CO₂ mineral storage and identified factors that control the maximum extent of carbonation. The simulations showed that formation of carbonates from basalt at 40?C may be limited to the formation of siderite and possibly FeMg carbonates. Calcium was largely consumed by zeolite and oxide instead of forming carbonates. At higher temperatures (60 ?C 100?C), magnesite is suggested to form together with siderite and ankerite. The maximum potential of CO₂ stored as solid carbonates, if CO₂ is supplied to the reactions unlimited, is shown to depend on the availability of pore space as the hydration and carbonation reactions increase the solid volume and clog the pore space. For systems such as in the scCO₂ phase with limited amount of water, the total carbonation potential is limited by the amount of water present for hydration of basalt.     

The Shape Distribution Of Kuiper Belt Objects

If we assume that the periodic brightness variations ina Kuiper Belt lightcurve are determined only by theiraspherical shapes and the observing geomtry, the fractionof detectable Kuiper Belt lightcurves and the lightcurveamplitude distribution can be used to constrain the shapesof Kuiper Belt objects. The results indicate that most KuiperBelt objects (～85%) have shapes that are close to spherical(a/b ≤ 1.5$), but there is a small but significant fraction(～12%) possessing highly aspherical shapes (a/b ≥ 1.7).The distribution cannot be well fitted by a gaussian and is betterapproximated by a power law.     

Urban flood vulnerability assessment in a densely urbanized city using multi-factor analysis and machine learning algorithms

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Flood is considered as the most devastating natural hazards that cause the death of many lives worldwide. The present study aimed to predict flood...     

Verification of a coupled ice ocean forecasting system for the Newfoundland shelf

Abstract

A coupled ice, ocean model for forecasting ice conditions on the Newfoundland shelf region is assessed by comparing hindcasts with satellite‐tracked ice beacon displacements and with changes in offshore ice edge location, ice thickness and southern ice extent derived from ice charts. The beacon velocity fields contain short timescale fluctuations which are not resolved by the model. The ratio of rms displacement error divided by the rms beacon displacement is 0.48 after 1 day and 0.23 after 8 days. The decrease in the scaled displacement error with increasing time is related to the short timescale motions. The skill in modelling displacement of the offshore ice edge is lower than in modelling ice displacement. Between mid‐February and mid‐April 1997, the effect of ice melt on the ice edge was a mean onshore displacement of 35 km overcoming an offshore advection of 24 km in 5 days.     

Stochastic analysis of unsaturated seepage through randomly heterogeneous earth embankments

Spatial variability of material properties is inherent in both natural soil deposits and earth structures, yet it is often ignored during geotechnical design. With the objective of developing novel methods for assessing the effects of soil variability on groundwater flow, this study presents a stochastic finite element model of seepage through a flood defense embankment with randomly heterogeneous material properties. Stochastic modeling is undertaken by means of a Monte Carlo simulation which involves a large number of finite element analyses, each with randomly varied porosity at element level, which leads to a corresponding random variation of both permeability and water retention properties across the embankment domain. This provides a statistical distribution of responses, such as total flow rate and time to reach steady state, instead of a single deterministic result as in conventional studies of seepage through unsaturated heterogeneous soils. As the degree of heterogeneity increases, water tends to flow along the most permeable paths inside the soil mass, resulting in an irregular shape of the predicted wetting fronts and pore pressure contours. The mean and standard deviation of the computed quantities strongly depend on the statistics of the input porosity field. Simulations are also conducted to compare the statistical variation of flow rate with and without dependency of the water retention curve on porosity. With recent growth in computer speed, stochastic finite element models based on the Monte Carlo approach can become a powerful design tool, especially if a quantitative assessment of geotechnical risks is required. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Constraining the cosmological time variation of the fine - structure constant

The variation of the fine-structure constant α = e ² / ħc can be probed by comparing the wavelength of atomic transitions from the redshift of quasars in the Universe and laboratory over cosmological time scales t ~ 10¹⁰ yr. After a careful selection of pairs of lines, the Thong method with a derived analytical expression for the error analysis was applied to compute the α variation. We report a new constraint on the variation of the fine-structure constant based on the analysis of the C_IV, N_V, Mg_II, Al_III, and Si_IV doublet absorption lines. The weighted mean value of the variation in α derived from our analysis over the redshift range 0.4939 ≤ z ≤ 3.7 is = ( 0.09 ± 0.07)×10⁻⁵. This result is three orders of magnitude better than the results obtained by earlier analysis of the same data on the constraint on Δα/α .     

Selective separation of very fine particles at a planar air–water interface

Selective fine particle separation is a key unit operation in the mineral and related industries. In flotation, the capture of fine particles by bubbles is inefficient due to their low mass and momentum, which result in low particle–bubble collision efficiency. We demonstrate that it is possible to selectively separate a mixture of very fine hydrophobic graphite and hydrophilic quartz particles by direct contact with an air–water interface without a particle–bubble collision step involved. We demonstrate that it is possible to scale-up the process from a simple batch to a continuous process. Good selective separation of graphite from quartz gangue could be obtained under continuous conditions.     

The conditions of formation of sapphire and zircon in the areas of alkali-basaltoid volcanism in Central Vietnam

Study of the chemical composition of clinopyroxene and garnet megacrysts from the Dak Nong sapphire deposit and model calculations have shown that megacrysts originated from the crystallization of alkali basaltoid magma in a deep-seated intermediate chamber at 14–15 kbar, which is close to the Moho depth (50 km) in this part of southeastern Asia. The chamber was a source of heat and CO₂ fluids for the generation of crustal syenitic melts producing sapphires and zircons. The formation conditions of sapphires and zircons are significantly different. The presence of jadeite inclusions in placer zircons points to high pressures during their crystallization, which is confirmed by the ubiquitous decrepitation of CO₂-rich melt inclusions. Sapphires crystallized from iron-rich syenitic melt in the shallower Earth’s crust horizons with the participation of CO₂ and carbonate–H₂O–CO₂ fluids. The subsequent eruptions of alkali basalts favored the transportation of garnet and pyroxene megacrysts as well as sapphire and zircon xenocrysts to the surface. It is shown that sapphire deposits can be produced only during multistage basaltic volcanism with deep-seated intermediate chambers in the regions with thick continental crust. The widespread megacryst mineral assemblage (clinopyroxene, garnet, sanidine, ilmenite) and the presence of placer zircon megacrysts can be used as indicators for sapphire prospecting.     

奠边府断裂带的走滑特征及其区域构造分析

位于越南西北部的奠边府(Dien Bien Phu)断裂,向北延伸入中国云南境内,向南进入老挝境内,走向由近N—S向向南逐渐过渡为NE—SW向,倾角陡立。沿断裂带发育3个具有不同运动学机制的第四纪盆地——婵讷(Chan Nua)盆地、莱州(Lai Chau)盆地和奠边府盆地。根据对奠边府断裂带地区ETM遥感数据进行详细解译以及野外实地考察,得到奠边府断裂具有早期的右行走滑和后期的左行走滑特征的证据;并且根据断裂两侧水系受断裂影响发生左错的程度不同,认为奠边府断裂的西盘相对于东盘较为活动,即为主动盘。奠边府断裂北延进入越南境内,与金平地区的三家河断裂相连,并继续向北并入哀牢山剪切带中。奠边府断裂现今的左行走滑与红河断裂现今的右行走滑共同组成了一组共轭断裂系。