Use of artificial and natural tracers to assess groundwater transit-time distribution and flow systems in a high-alpine karst system (Wetterstein Mountains,Germany)

Groundwater in mountainous karst regions is vital for regional water budgets and freshwater supply. Owing to increasing water demand and climate change, detailed knowledge of the highly heterogeneous alpine aquifer systems is required. Multi-tracer analyses have been conducted in the steep karstic Wetterstein Mountains, which includes Germany’s highest summit, Zugspitze (2,962 m asl). Results of artificial tracer tests demonstrate well-developed flow paths through the unsaturated zone (up to 1,000 m thickness). Flow paths cross topographic divides and contribute to deep drainage systems underneath alpine valleys. Cross-formational flow has been identified. Quantitative analysis of tailing-dominated breakthrough curves and stable isotopes (¹⁸O) has enabled determination of the mean transit-time distribution. A fast-flow component with transit times between 3 and 13 days was found in karst conduits and open fissures, dependent on flow conditions. An intermediate-flow component, showing mean transit times of about 2.9–4.9 months, was found in well-drained fissures and fractures. A slow-flow component with mean transit times greater than 1 year is attributable to slow flow and low storage in the poorly drained fissures and rock matrix. The conceptual model enables a better understanding of drainage, water resources and vulnerability of the high-alpine karst system.     

Fluid–Rock Interactions in Geothermal Reservoirs,Germany: Thermal Autoclave Experiments Using Sandstones and Natural Hydrothermal Brines

As renewable energy, geothermal can contribute substantially to the energy transition. To generate electricity or to harvest heat, high-saline fluids are tapped by wells of a few kilometres and extracted from hydrothermal reservoirs. After the heat exchanger units have been passed by, these fluids are reinjected into the reservoir. Due to the pressure and temperature differences between the subsurface and the surface, as well as the cooling of the fluids in the power plant, unwanted chemical reactions can occur within the reservoir, in the borehole, and within the power plant itself. This can reduce the permeability of the reservoir as well as the output of the geothermal power plant. This study aims to simulate real subsurface reactions using batch and leaching experiments with sandstone or sandstone powder as solid phase, and deionised water or natural brine as liquid phase. It is demonstrated that fluid composition changes after only a few days. In particular, calcite, aragonite, clay minerals, and zinc phases precipitate from the natural brine. In contrast, in particular minerals containing potassium, arsenic, barium, and silica are dissolved. Due to the experimental set-up, these mineral reactions mainly took place on the surface of the samples, which is why no substantial changes in petrophysical properties could be observed. However, it is assumed that the observed reactions on the reservoir scale have a relevant influence on parameters such as permeability.

     

The U-WEDGE Transformation Method for Multivariate Geostatistical Simulation

To speed up multivariate geostatistical simulation it is common to transform the set of attributes into spatially uncorrelated factors that can be simulated independently. Spatial decorrelation methods are usually based on the diagonalisation of the variance/covariance and semivariogram matrices of the set of attributes for a chosen family of lag spacings. These matrices are symmetric and there are several efficient methods for the approximate joint diagonalisation of a family of symmetric matrices. One of these is the uniformly weighted exhaustive diagonalisation with Gauss iterations (U-WEDGE) method. In contrast to the method of minimum/maximum autocorrelation factors (MAF), where a two structure linear model of coregionalisation is assumed, U-WEDGE can be applied directly to the set of experimental semivariogram matrices without having to place restrictions on the number of structures in the linear model of coregionalisation, thus removing one of the restrictions placed on the subsequent modelling of the spatial structure of the factors. We use an iron-ore data set to illustrate the method and present a comparison between the simulated attributes obtained from U-WEDGE and MAF with the full co-simulation of the attributes.     

Fluid Pressure Variation in a Sedimentary Geothermal Reservoir in the North German Basin: Case Study Groß Schönebeck

The Rotliegend of the North German basin is the target reservoir of an interdisciplinary investigation program to develop a technology for the generation of geothermal electricity from low-enthalpy reservoirs. An in situ downhole laboratory was established in the 4.3 km deep well Groβ Schönebeck with the purpose of developing appropriate stimulation methods to increase permeability of deep aquifers by enhancing or creating secondary porosity and flow paths. The goal is to learn how to enhance the inflow performance of a well from a variety of rock types in low permeable geothermal reservoirs. A change in effective stress due to fluid pressure was observed to be one of the key parameters influencing flow properties both downhole and in laboratory experiments on reservoir rocks. Fluid pressure variation was induced using proppant-gel-frac techniques as well as waterfrac techniques in several different new experiments in the borehole. A pressure step test indicates generation and extension of multiple fractures with closure pressures between 6 and 8.4 MPa above formation pressure. In a 24-hour production test 859 m³ water was produced from depth indicating an increase of productivity in comparison with former tests. Different depth sections and transmissibility values were observed in the borehole depending on fluid pressure. In addition, laboratory experiments were performed on core samples from the sandstone reservoir under uniaxial strain conditions, i.e., no lateral strain, constant axial load. The experiments on the borehole and the laboratory scale were realized on the same rock types under comparable stress conditions with similar pore pressure variations. Nevertheless, stress dependences of permeability are not easy to compare from scale to scale. Laboratory investigations reflect permeability variations due to microstructural heterogeneities and the behavior in the borehole is dominated by the generation of connections to large-scale structural patterns.     

On the influence of kriging parameters on the cartographic output—A study in mapping subglacial topography

Geostatistics provides a suite of methods, summarized as kriging, to analyze a finite data set to describe a continuous property of the Earth. Kriging methods consist of moving window optimum estimation techniques, which are based on a least-squares principle and use a spatial structure function, usually the variogram. Applications of kriging techniques have become increasingly wide-spread, with ordinary kriging and universal kriging being the most popular ones. The dependence of the final map or model on the input, however, is not generally understood. Herein we demonstrate how changes in the kriging parameters and the neighborhood search affect the cartographic result. Principles are illustrated through a glaciological study. The objective is to map ice thickness and subglacial topography of Storglaciären, Kebnekaise Massif, northern Sweden, from several sets of radio-echo soundings and hot water drillings. New maps are presented.     

南极Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川的物质平衡及Amery冰架底部物质通量的估算

利用现场观测与遥感数据对Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川的物质平衡及其在Amery冰架的底部融化与冻结状况进行了估算. 结果表明, 澳大利亚组织的Lambert冰川盆地(LGB)考察路线的上游地区, Lambert与Mellor冰川分别为(3.9±2.1)和(2.1±2.4) Gt·a^-1的正平衡, 而Fisher冰川基本处于平衡状态. 上游地区总的正平衡为(5.9±4.9) Gt·a^-1. 考察路线以下, 3条冰川均处于负平衡, 总的负平衡为(-8.5±5.8) Gt·a^-1. 整个Lambert, Mellor和Fisher冰川均接近于平衡状态. 3条冰川总净平衡为(-2.6±6.5) Gt·a^-1. 前人认为GL线(1970年代初澳大利亚在LGB建立的冰川运动观测点的连线)以上的内陆盆地处于显著正平衡, 可能是因为过高地估算了总积累量, 并低估了穿过GL线的冰通量. 靠近Amery冰架南端着地线, 冰架底部的平均融化速率为(-23.0±3.5) m冰·a^-1, 向下游方向快速减小, 并在距冰架最南端约300 km处过渡为底部冻结. 沿3条冰川在Amery冰架的冰流带(flowband), 冻结速率约介于(0.5±0.1)~(1.5±0.2) m 冰·a^-1. 由于冰流带底部的融化, 流入冰架的内陆冰损失了大约80%±5%. 3条冰流带底部总融化和总冻结分别为(50.3±7.5)和(7.0±1.1) Gt 冰·a^-1, 这要比前人通过模拟和海洋观测估算的整个Amery冰架底部总融化和总冻结还要大很多.     

Determination of nitrate in the blood of the hydrothermal vent tubeworm Riftia pachyptila using a bacterial nitrate reduction assay

The vestimentiferan tubeworm Riftia pachyptila derives most or all of its nutrition from intracellular chemosynthetic bacterial symbionts. Because purified preparations of symbionts respire nitrate, possibly nitrite, and oxygen, host transport of nitrate is a topic of interest. In the present study, we have developed a nitrate detection assay that utilizes a nitrite reductase-deficient Escherichia coli strain for the reduction of nitrate to nitrite, which is then determined spectrophotometrically. Nitrate and nitrite concentrations were measured in the blood and coelomic fluids of R. pachyptila collected from hydrothermal vent sites at 9°N and 13°N. The blood was shown to have nitrate concentrations up to one hundred times that of ambient sea water (40 μM). Blood nitrate levels reached concentrations of>1 mM, while nitrite was measured in the range of 400-700 μM. The concentrations of nitrate and nitrite in the coelomic fluids were 150-240 μM and <20 μM, respectively. The nitrate determination technique we present here is simple, applicable for laboratory and shipboard use on sea water or biological fluids, and works reliably within the 0.5 to 2000 μM range.     

The Rapid Retreat of Jakobshavns Isbræ, West Greenland: Field Observations of 2005 and Structural Analysis of its Evolution

Jakobshavns Isbræ in West Greenland (terminus at ≈69° 10′ N/50° W), a major outlet glacier of the Greenland Ice Sheet and a continuously fast-moving ice stream, has long been the fastest moving and one of the most productive glaciers on Earth. It had been moving continuously at speeds of over 20 m/day with a stable front position throughout most of the latter half of the twentieth century, except for relatively small seasonal changes. In 2002, the ice stream apparently suddenly entered a phase of rapid retreat. The ice front started to break up, the floating tongue disintegrated, and the production of icebergs increased. In July 2005, we conducted an extensive aerial survey of Jakobshavns Isbræ to measure and document the present state of retreat compared to our previous field observations since 1996. We use an approach that combines structural analysis of deformation features with continuum mechanics to assess the kinematics and dynamics of glaciers, based on aerial imagery, satellite data and GPS measurements. Results from interpretation of ERS-SAR and ASTER data from 1995 to 2005 in combination with aerial imagery from 1996 to 2005 shed light on the question of changes versus stability and their causes in the Jakobshavns Isbræ dynamical system. The recently observed retreat of Jakobshavns Isbræ is attributed to climatic warming, rather than to an inherent change in the glaciodynamic system. Close to the retreating front, deformation structures are characteristic of extension and disintegration. Deformation provinces that do not border the retreating front have had the same deformation characteristics throughout the past decade (1996–2005).