Geochemical Characteristics of Oil from Oligocene Lower Ganchaigou Formation Oil Sand in Northern Qaidam Basin,China

Oil from the Oligocene oil sands of the Lower Ganchaigou Formation in the Northern Qaidam Basin and the related asphaltenes was analyzed using bulk and organic geochemical methods to assess the organic matter source input, thermal maturity, paleo-environmental conditions, kerogen type, hydrocarbon quality, and the correlation between this oil and its potential source rock in the basin. The extracted oil samples are characterized by very high contents of saturated hydrocarbons (average 62.76%), low contents of aromatic hydrocarbons (average 16.11%), and moderate amounts of nitrogen–sulfur–oxygen or resin compounds (average 21.57%), suggesting that the fluid petroleum extracted from the Oligocene oil sands is of high quality. However, a variety of biomarker parameters obtained from the hydrocarbon fractions (saturated and aromatic) indicate that the extracted oil was generated from source rocks with a wide range of thermal maturity conditions, ranging from the early to peak oil window stages, which are generally consistent with the biomarker maturity parameters, vitrinite reflectance (approximately 0.6%), and T_max values of the Middle Jurassic carbonaceous mudstones and organic-rich mudstone source rocks of the Dameigou Formation, as reported in the literature. These findings suggest that the studied oil is derived from Dameigou Formation source rocks. Furthermore, the source- and environment-related biomarker parameters of the studied oil are characterized by relatively high pristane/phytane ratios, the presence of tricyclic terpanes, low abundances of C₂₇ regular steranes, low C₂₇/C₂₉ regular sterane ratios, and very low sterane/hopane ratios. These data suggest that the oil was generated from source rocks containing plankton/land plant matter that was mainly deposited in a lacustrine environment and preserved under sub-oxic to oxic conditions, and the data also indicate a potential relationship between the studied oil and the associated potential source rocks. The distribution of pristane, phytane, tricyclic terpanes, regular steranes and hopane shows an affinity with the studied Oligocene Lower Ganchaigou Formation oil to previously published Dameigou Formation source rocks. In support of this finding, the pyrolysis–gas chromatography results of the analyzed oil asphaltene indicate that the oil was primarily derived from type II organic matter, which is also consistent with the organic matter of the Middle Jurassic source rocks. Thus, the Middle Jurassic carbonaceous mudstones and organic rock mudstones of the Dameigou Formation could be significantly contributing source rocks to the Oligocene Lower Ganchaigou Formation oil sand and other oil reservoirs in the Northern Qaidam Basin.

     

Predicting Surface Roughness and Moisture of Bare Soils Using Multiband Spectral Reflectance Under Field Conditions

Soil surface roughness, denoted by the root mean square height(RMSH), and soil moisture(SM) are critical factors that affect the accuracy of quantitative remote sensing research due to their combined influence on spectral reflectance(SR). In regards to this issue, three SM levels and four RMSH levels were artificially designed in this study; a total of 12 plots was used, each plot had a size of 3 m × 3 m. Eight spectral observations were conducted from 14 to 30 October 2017 to investigate the correlation between RMSH, SM, and SR. On this basis, 6 commonly used bands of optical satellite sensors were selected in this study, which are red(675 nm), green(555 nm), blue(485 nm), near infrared(845 nm), shortwave infrared 1(1600 nm), and shortwave infrared 2(2200 nm). A negative correlation was found between SR and RMSH, and between SR and SM. The bands with higher coefficient of determination R~2 values were selected for stepwise multiple nonlinear regression analysis. Four characterized bands(i.e., blue, green, near infrared, and shortwave infrared 2) were chosen as the independent variables to estimate SM with R~2 and root mean square error(RMSE) values equal to 0.62 and 2.6%, respectively. Similarly, the four bands(green, red, near infrared, and shortwave infrared 1) were used to estimate RMSH with R~2 and RMSE values equal to 0.48 and 0.69 cm, respectively. These results indicate that the method used is not only suitable for estimating SM but can also be extended to the prediction of RMSH. Finally, the evaluation approach presented in this paper highly restores the real situation of the natural farmland surface on the one hand, and obtains high precision values of SM and RMSH on the other. The method can be further applied to the prediction of farmland SM and RMSH based on satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) optical imagery.     

Study on TMD Control on Stability Improvement of Barge-Supported Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Based on the Multi-Island Genetic Algorithm

A floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) has a great potential in producing renewable energy as offshore wind resource is rich in deep sea area (water deeper than 60 m) where fixed foundations are cost-effective or deployable. However, compared with a fixed-bottom installation, FOWT has to suffer more extreme loads due to its extra degrees of freedom. Therefore, the stability of an FOWT is a key challenge in exploiting offshore deep-water wind. Focusing on the stability of barge-type FOWT, this paper is to investigate the effect of passive structural control by equipping a tuned mass damper (TMD) on the nacelle. The turbulent wind with sharp fluctuations is established both in velocity and inflow direction based on standard Kaimal turbulence spectrum as suggested in the standard IEC61400-2. The irregular wave is generated according to the Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum. The dynamic structural characteristics of FOWT are calculated based on the fully coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic solver FAST. Evidence has shown that the proposed method of the nacelle-based TMD is effective in controlling stability of an FOWT, as the sway and roll motions of barge and the side-side displacement of tower top decreased significantly. With the increase of mass, the side-side displacement of tower-top and the amplitude of roll motion of barge reveal a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. The stiffness and damping have little effect. Furthermore, the multi-island genetic optimization algorithm (MIGA) is employed to find globally optimum structural parameters (mass, stiffness and damping) of the TMD. The optimum structure parameters of TMD are achieved when the mass is 21393 kg, damping is 13635 N/(m/s) and stiffness is 6828 N/m. By adopting the optimized TMD, stability of roll motion of barge and side-side displacement of tower-top increase up to 53% and 50% respectively when compared with the normal TMD. The simulation results verify the validity and reliability of the proposed TMD control and the optimization methods.     

Study on Rigid-Flexible Coupling Effects of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

In order to account for rigid-flexible coupling effects of floating offshore wind turbines, a nonlinear rigid-flexible coupled dynamic model is proposed in this paper. The proposed nonlinear coupled model takes the higher-order axial displacements into account, which are usually neglected in the conventional linear dynamic model. Subsequently,investigations on the dynamic differences between the proposed nonlinear dynamic model and the linear one are conducted. The results demonstrate that the stiffness of the turbine blades in the proposed nonlinear dynamic model increases with larger overall motions but that in the linear dynamic model declines with larger overall motions.Deformation of the blades in the nonlinear dynamic model is more reasonable than that in the linear model as well.Additionally, more distinct coupling effects are observed in the proposed nonlinear model than those in the linear model. Finally, it shows that the aerodynamic loads, the structural loads and global dynamic responses of floating offshore wind turbines using the nonlinear dynamic model are slightly smaller than those using the linear dynamic model. In summary, compared with the conventional linear dynamic model, the proposed nonlinear coupling dynamic model is a higher-order dynamic model in consideration of the rigid-flexible coupling effects of floating offshore wind turbines, and accord more perfectly with the engineering facts.     

Seismotectonics of the Taiwan Shoal region in the northeastern South China Sea: Insights from the crustal structure

A cluster of earthquakes occurred in the Taiwan Shoal region on the outer rise of the Manila Trench. Although most were of small to medium magnitudes, one strong earthquake occurred on September 16, 1994. Several previous studies have provided important information to progress our understanding of this single earthquake. However, little is currently known about the earthquake cluster, and it is necessary to investigate the deep crustal structure of the Taiwan Shoal region to understand the mechanisms involved in controlling and generating it. This study presents a two-dimensional seismic tomographic image of the crustal structure along the OBS2012 profile based on ocean-bottom seismograph (OBS) data, which exhibits a high-velocity anomaly flanked by low-velocity anomalies in the upper crust beneath the Taiwan Shoal. In this study, 765 earthquakes (Richter magnitude M_L > 1.5) occurring between 1991 and 2015 were studied and analyses of earthquake epicenters, regional faults, and the crustal structure provides an improved understanding of the nature of active tectonics in this region. Results of analyses indicate firstly that the high-velocity area represents major asperities that correspond to the location of the earthquake cluster and where stress is concentrated. It is also depicted that the earthquake cluster was influenced by fault interactions. However, the September 1994 earthquake occurred independently of these seismic activities and was associated with reactivation of a preexisting fault. It is also determined that slab pull is resisted by the exposed precollision accretionary prism, and the resistive force is causing accumulation of inplane compressive-stress. This may trigger a future damaging earthquake in the Taiwan Shoal region.     

Plausible Effect of Weather on Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation with a Coupled General Circulation Model

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is a vital component of the global ocean circulation and the heat engine of the climate system. Through the use of a coupled general circulation model, this study examines the role of synoptic systems on the AMOC and presents evidence that internally generated high-frequency, synoptic-scale weather variability in the atmosphere could play a significant role in maintaining the overall strength and variability of the AMOC, thereby affecting climate variability and change. Results of a novel coupling technique show that the strength and variability of the AMOC are greatly reduced once the synoptic weather variability is suppressed in the coupled model. The strength and variability of the AMOC are closely linked to deep convection events at high latitudes, which could be strongly affected by the weather variability. Our results imply that synoptic weather systems are important in driving the AMOC and its variability. Thus, interactions between atmospheric weather variability and AMOC may be an important feedback mechanism of the global climate system and need to be taken into consideration in future climate change studies.     

东海对台风云娜的海洋响应

Many typhoons pass through the East China Sea(ECS) and the oceanic responses to typhoons on the ECS shelf are very energetic. However, these responses are not well studied because of the complicated background oceanic environment. The sea surface temperature(SST) response to a severe Typhoon Rananim in August 2004 on the ECS shelf was observed by the merged cloud-penetrating microwave and infrared SST data. The observed SST response shows an extensive SST cooling with a maximum cooling of 3°C on the ECS shelf and the SST cooling lags the typhoon by about one day. A numerical model is designed to simulate the oceanic responses to Rananim.The numerical model reasonably simulates the observed SST response and thereby provides a more comprehensive investigation on the oceanic temperature and current responses. The simulation shows that Rananim deepens the ocean mix layer by more than 10 m on the ECS shelf and causes a cooling in the whole mixed layer. Both upwelling and entrainment are responsible for the cooling. Rananim significantly deforms the background Taiwan Warm Current on the ECS shelf and generates strong Ekman current at the surface. After the typhoon disappears, the surface current rotates clockwise and vertically, the current is featured by near inertial oscillation with upward propagating phase.     

Ground temperature variation and its response to climate change on the northern Tibetan Plateau

Ground temperature plays a significant role in the interaction between the land surface and atmosphere on the Tibetan Plateau(TP). Under the background of temperature warming, the TP has witnessed an accelerated warming trend in frozen ground temperature, an increasing active layer thickness, and the melting of underground ice. Based on high-resolution ground temperature data observed from 1997 to 2012 on the northern TP, the trend of ground temperature at each observation site and its response to climate change were analyzed. The results showed that while the ground temperature at different soil depths showed a strong warming trend over the observation period, the warming in winter is more significant than that in summer. The warming rate of daily minimum ground temperature was greater than that of daily maximum ground temperature at the TTH and MS3608 sites. During the study period, thawing occurred earlier, whereas freezing happened later, resulting in shortened freezing season and a thinner frozen layer at the BJ site. And a zero-curtain effect develops when the soil begins to thaw or freeze in spring and autumn. From 1997 to 2012, the average summer air temperature and precipitation in summer and winter from six meteorological stations along the Qinghai-Tibet highway also demonstrated an increasing trend, with a more significant temperature increase in winter than in summer. The ground temperature showed an obvious response to air temperature warming, but the trend varied significantly with soil depths due to soil heterogeneity.     

Evaluation of reanalysis surface wind products with quality-assured buoy wind measurements along the north coast of the South China Sea

Three archived reanalysis wind vectors at 10 m height in the wind speed range of 2–15 m/s, namely, the second version of the National Centres for Environmental Prediction(NCEP) Climate Forecast System Reanalysis(CFSv2), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting Interim Reanalysis(ERA-I) and NCEPDepartment of Energy(DOE) Reanalysis 2(NCEP-2) products, are evaluated by a comparison with the winds measured by moored buoys in coastal regions of the South China Sea(SCS). The buoy data are first quality controlled by extensive techniques that help eliminate degraded measurements. The evaluation results reveal that the CFSv2 wind vectors are most consistent with the buoy winds(with average biases of 0.01 m/s and 1.76°). The ERA-I winds significantly underestimate the buoy wind speed(with an average bias of –1.57 m/s), while the statistical errors in the NCEP-2 wind direction have the largest magnitude. The diagnosis of the reanalysis wind errors shows the residuals of all three reanalysis wind speeds(reanalysis-buoy) decrease with increasing buoy wind speed, suggesting a narrower wind speed range than that of the observations. Moreover, wind direction errors are examined to depend on the magnitude of the wind speed and the wind speed biases. In general, the evaluation of three reanalysis wind products demonstrates that CFSv2 wind vectors are the closest to the winds along the north coast of the SCS and are sufficiently accurate to be used in numerical models.     

学习刘东生先生环境地质观、深入环境演化与过程研究——贺东生院士九十华诞

1972年刘东生先生发表了"环境地质学的出现".刘东生院士的环境地质观聚焦于:环境地质学发展的动力源于社会需要、地球环境系统的整体性及其与人类关系的相互依存性.35年来,地质环境的地球化学研究以区域环境质量和全球环境变化两大科学问题作为基本目标,经历了调查评价-区域综合-界面机理的3个发展阶段,在典型区域环境演化及环境-生态效应方面取得了重要进展.环境地质学以"地质学与人类"为宗旨,将在21世纪为人类谋求更多的福祉.