Automated Segmentation of Resistivity Image Logs Using Wavelet Transform

We describe a wavelet-transform-based method for automated segmentation of resistivity image logs that takes into account the apparent dip in the data and addresses the problem of discriminating lithofacies boundaries from noise and intrafacies variations. Our method can be applied to borehole measurements in general, but might have an advantage when applied to resistivity image logs as it addresses explicitly the large variability in facies segments recorded with a high-resolution multiple-sensor tool. We have developed an algorithm based on this method that might outperform other existing segmentation methods in the cases of low to moderate dip. We made a detailed comparison of the segmentation from our method with the one done by a geologist to delineate different lithofacies blocks in a well drilled in a deepwater depositional environment. Our results show considerable success rates in reproducing the geologically defined lithofacies boundaries, and the generality of our procedure suggests it could also be applied to other depositional environments.     

Germanium in Icelandic geothermal systems

Germanium concentrations in geothermal waters in Iceland lie mostly in the range 2–30 ppb. There is an overall positive relation between the germanium content of the water and its temperature. Most of the germanium occurs as Ge(OH)^?₅in solution but Ge(OH)₄ may also be present in significant amounts in saline waters when above 200°C. Evidence indicates that aqueous germanium concentrations are controlled by exchange reactions where it substitutes for silica in silicates and iron in sulphides. It is the rate of dissolution and the relative abundance of the alteration minerals which take up germanium to a variable extent that ultimately fix Ge(OH)₄ concentrations in the water. This, together with water pH, fixes total dissolved germanium. It is mostly the primary rock composition that dictates the relative abundance of the alteration minerals. Conductive cooling in upflow zones favours removal of germanium from solution. During the initial stages of boiling of rising hot water dissolution is enhanced but precipitation at later stages.Thermodynamic data of various aqueous germanium species and several minerals are summarized and dissociation constants and solubilities estimated at elevated temperatures using available predictive methods.     

Platiniferous gold–tourmaline aggregates in the gold–palladium belt of Minas Gerais,Brazil: implications for regional boron metasomatism

Mineralogy and Petrology - The platiniferous gold–palladium belt of Minas Gerais, Brazil, forms an approximately 240-km-long, roughly north–south-trending domain that includes numerous...     

The Quaternary history of the Wash fluvial network, UK

This paper appraises and compares the Middle-Upper Pleistocene sedimentary sequences preserved in the fluvial systems draining into the Fenland Basin and the Wash estuary. Of the main Fenland rivers the longest records, which extend back to the initial Anglian (glacial) formation of the basin, are found in the Great Ouse and its tributaries, particularly the Cam and the Nar. These sequences preserve sediments representing all four post-Anglian interglacials. The Nene also has an extensive post-Anglian history, with evidence for a Hoxnian estuary that is presumed to have been the precursor of the Wash. North of the Nene, however, the Welland and Witham (proto-Trent) have relatively short sequences, which are thought to commence with a later (post-Anglian-pre-Devensian) glaciation that affected Lincolnshire and fed the previously-recognized Tottenhill outwash delta south of Kings Lynn. Prior to Devensian deglaciation the Witham valley was occupied by the Trent, which was the trunk river of the late Middle Pleistocene Wash system. During periods of low sea level the river would have extended north-eastwards across what is now the floor of the North Sea, possibly via the Inner Silver Pit. Several of the central Fenland sequences show evidence of infrequent terrace formation during the late Quaternary, although this might in part be due to poor vertical separation between terraces, so that differentiating them has been difficult; this has been exacerbated by mixed biostratigraphical signals due to the preservation of sediments representing more than one interglacial beneath a single terrace surface. In several of the systems there is evidence for valley rejuvenation to the lowest terrace or valley-floor level during the MIS 4-3 transition. The observed differences within what, during the predominant periods of lower sea level, would have been a single Wash river system are difficult to explain.     

Review: Thermal water resources in carbonate rock aquifers

The current knowledge on thermal water resources in carbonate rock aquifers is presented in this review, which also discusses geochemical processes that create reservoir porosity and different types of utilisations of these resources such as thermal baths, geothermal energy and carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration. Carbonate aquifers probably constitute the most important thermal water resources outside of volcanic areas. Several processes contribute to the creation of porosity, summarised under the term hypogenic (or hypogene) speleogenesis, including retrograde calcite solubility, mixing corrosion induced by cross-formational flow, and dissolution by geogenic acids from deep sources. Thermal and mineral waters from karst aquifers supply spas all over the world such as the famous bath in Budapest, Hungary. Geothermal installations use these resources for electricity production, district heating or other purposes, with low CO₂ emissions and land consumption, e.g. Germany’s largest geothermal power plant at Unterhaching near Munich. Regional fault and fracture zones are often the most productive zones, but are sometimes difficult to locate, resulting in a relatively high exploration uncertainty. Geothermal installations in deep carbonate rocks could also be used for CO₂ sequestration (carbonate dissolution would partly neutralise this gas and increase reservoir porosity). The use of geothermal installations to this end should be further investigated.     

Age and depositional environment of the Draa Sfar massive sulfide deposit, Morocco

The Draa Sfar mineralization consists of two main stratabound orebodies, Sidi M’Barek and Tazacourt, located north and south of the Tensift River (“Oued Tessift”), respectively. Each orebody is comprised by at least two massive sulfide lenses. The hosting rocks are predominantly black shales, although minor rhyolitic rocks are also present in the footwall to the southern orebody. Shales, rhyolitic volcanic rocks, and massive sulfides are all included into the Sarhlef Series, which is recognized as one of the main stratigraphic units of the Moroccan Variscan Meseta. Hydrothermal activity related with an anomalous thermal gradient, together with a high sedimentation rate in a tectonically driven pull-apart marine basin, favored the accumulation of organic-rich mud in the deepest parts of the basin and the sedimentary environment suitable for massive sulfide deposition and preservation. This took place by replacement of the hosting unlithified wet mud below the sediment–water interface. Geochemical data suggest a sedimentary environment characterized by oxic water column and anoxic sediment pile with the redox boundary below the sediment–water interface. The low oxygen availability within the sediment pile inhibited oxidation and pyritization of pyrrhotite. Biostratigraphic analysis, based on the palynological content of the hosting black shales, restricts the age of the sulfides to the Asbian substage (mid-Mississippian). This age is consistent with earlier geochronological constraints.     

Sulfur isotope variations from orebody to hand-specimen scale at the Mežica lead–zinc deposit, Slovenia: a predominantly biogenic pattern

The Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) Pb–Zn ore district at Mežica is hosted by Middle to Upper Triassic platform carbonate rocks in the Northern Karavanke/Drau Range geotectonic units of the Eastern Alps, northeastern Slovenia. The mineralization at Mežica covers an area of 64 km² with more than 350 orebodies and numerous galena and sphalerite occurrences, which formed epigenetically, both conformable and discordant to bedding. While knowledge on the style of mineralization has grown considerably, the origin of discordant mineralization is still debated. Sulfur stable isotope analyses of 149 sulfide samples from the different types of orebodies provide new insights on the genesis of these mineralizations and their relationship. Over the whole mining district, sphalerite and galena have δ ³⁴ S values in the range of –24.7 to –1.5‰ VCDT (–13.5 ± 5.0‰) and –24.7 to –1.4‰ (–10.7 ± 5.9‰), respectively. These values are in the range of the main MVT deposits of the Drau Range. All sulfide δ ³⁴ S values are negative within a broad range, with δ ³⁴ S _pyrite <δ ³⁴ S _sphalerite <δ ³⁴ S _galena for both conformable and discordant orebodies, indicating isotopically heterogeneous H₂S in the ore-forming fluids and precipitation of the sulfides at thermodynamic disequilibrium. This clearly supports that the main sulfide sulfur originates from bacterially mediated reduction (BSR) of Middle to Upper Triassic seawater sulfate or evaporite sulfate. Thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) by organic compounds contributed a minor amount of ³⁴S-enriched H₂S to the ore fluid. The variations of δ ³⁴ S values of galena and coarse-grained sphalerite at orefield scale are generally larger than the differences observed in single hand specimens. The progressively more negative δ ³⁴ S values with time along the different sphalerite generations are consistent with mixing of different H₂S sources, with a decreasing contribution of H₂S from regional TSR, and an increase from a local H₂S reservoir produced by BSR (i.e., sedimentary biogenic pyrite, organo-sulfur compounds). Galena in discordant ore (–11.9 to –1.7‰; –7.0 ± 2.7‰, n = 12) tends to be depleted in ³⁴ S compared with conformable ore (–24.7 to –2.8‰, –11.7 ± 6.2‰, n = 39). A similar trend is observed from fine-crystalline sphalerite I to coarse open-space filling sphalerite II. Some variation of the sulfide δ ³⁴ S values is attributed to the inherent variability of bacterial sulfate reduction, including metabolic recycling in a locally partially closed system and contribution of H₂S from hydrolysis of biogenic pyrite and thermal cracking of organo-sulfur compounds. The results suggest that the conformable orebodies originated by mixing of hydrothermal saline metal-rich fluid with H₂S-rich pore waters during late burial diagenesis, while the discordant orebodies formed by mobilization of the earlier conformable mineralization.     

An effective method of frequency analyses of time series of geo-physical quantities

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A thermo‐mechanical model for variably saturated soils based on hypoplasticity

The paper presents a mechanical model for non‐isothermal behaviour of unsaturated soils. The model is based on an incrementally non‐linear hypoplastic model for saturated clays and can therefore tackle the non‐linear behaviour of overconsolidated soils. A hypoplastic model for non‐isothermal behaviour of saturated soils was developed and combined with the existing hypoplastic model for unsaturated soils based on the effective stress principle. Features of the soil behaviour that are included into the model, and those that are not, are clearly distinguished. The number of model parameters is kept to a minimum, and they all have a clear physical interpretation, to facilitate the model usefulness for practical applications. The step‐by‐step procedure used for the parameter calibration is described. The model is finally evaluated using a comprehensive set of experimental data for the thermo‐mechanical behaviour of an unsaturated compacted silt. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.