Finite element analysis for a finite conductivity fracture in an infinite poroelastic medium

In the technology of oil recovery, oil production rate can be increased by generation of a vertical conductive fracture adjacent to the well-bore. In this paper the seepage flow and isothermal deformation in both the oil formation and the fracture are studied by modelling the formation as a two-dimensional infinite poroelastic medium and the conductive fracture as a one-dimensional poroelastic material, saturated by a one-phase compressible fluid. The plane strain condition is employed. Solutions for a growing conductive fracture and a stationary conductive fracture in the infinite medium are obtained by means of the finite element method based on a variational principle for the formation which can impose the governing equations of the fracture. Infinite elements are used outside the finite element domain. Numerical results indicate that the injection rate, the applied pressure and the crack mouth opening displacement at the well-bore oscillate during the propagation of the conductive fracture. The production rate of a well with the conductive fracture is compared with that of a well without the conductive fracture. Finally, a new definition of the conductivity coefficient for the conductive fracture is presented. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coastal sea level variability in the US West Coast Ocean Forecast System (WCOFS)

Sea level variability along the US West Coast is analyzed using multi-year time series records from tide gauges and a high-resolution regional ocean model, the base of the West Coast Ocean Forecast System (WCOFS). One of the metrics utilized is the frequency of occurrences when model prediction is within 0.15 m from the observed sea level, F. A target level of F?=?90% is set by an operational agency. A combination of the tidal sea level from a shallow water inverse model, inverted barometer (IB) term computed using surface air pressure from a mesoscale atmospheric model, and low-pass filtered sea level from WCOFS representing the effect of coastal ocean dynamics (DYN) provides the most straightforward approach to reaching levels F>80%. The IB and DYN components each add between 5 and 15% to F. Given the importance of the DYN term bringing F closer to the operational requirement and its role as an indicator of the coastal ocean processes on scales from days to interannual, additional verification of the WCOFS subtidal sea level is provided in terms of the model-data correlation, standard deviation of the band-pass filtered (2–60 days) time series, the annual cycle amplitude, and alongshore sea level coherence in the range of 5–120-day periods. Model-data correlation in sea level increases from south to north along the US coast. The rms amplitude of model sea level variability in the 2–60-day band and its annual amplitude are weaker than observed north of 42 N, in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) coast region. The alongshore coherence amplitude and phase patterns are similar in the model and observations. Availability of the multi-year model solution allows computation and analysis of spatial maps of the coherence amplitude. For a reference location in the Southern California Bight, relatively short-period sea level motions (near 10 days) are incoherent with those north of the Santa Barbara Channel (in part, due to coastal trapped wave scattering and/or dissipation). At a range of periods around 60 days, the coastal sea level in Southern California is coherent with the sea surface height (SSH) variability over the shelf break in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, more than with the coastal SSH at the same latitudes.     

Gamma-ray bursts: optical afterglows in the deep Newtonian phase

Gamma-ray burst remnants become trans-relativistic typically in days to tens of days, and they enter the deep Newtonian phase in tens of days to months, during which the majority of shock-accelerated electrons will no longer be highly relativistic. However, a small portion of electrons are still accelerated to ultra-relativistic speeds and are capable of emitting synchrotron radiation. The distribution function for electrons is re-derived here so that synchrotron emission from these relativistic electrons can be calculated. Based on the revised model, optical afterglows from both isotropic fireballs and highly collimated jets are studied numerically, and compared to analytical results. In the beamed cases, it is found that, in addition to the steepening due to the edge effect and the lateral expansion effect, the light curves are universally characterized by a flattening during the deep Newtonian phase.     

SHRIMP zircon dating and Nd isotopic systematics of Palaeoproterozoic migmatitic orthogneisses in the Epupa Metamorphic Complex of northwestern Namibia

The Epupa Metamorphic Complex constitutes the southwestern margin of the Congo Craton and is exposed in a hilly to mountainous terrain of northwestern Namibia, bordering the Kunene River and extending into southern Angola. It consists predominantly of granitoid gneisses which are migmatized over large areas. This migmatization locally led to anatexis and produced crustal-melt granites such as the Otjitanda Granite. We have undertaken reconnaissance geochemical studies and single zircon U–Pb SHRIMP and Pb–Pb evaporation dating of rocks of the Epupa Complex. The granitoid gneisses, migmatites and anatectic melts are similar in composition and constitute a suite of metaluminous to peraluminous, calc-alkaline granitoids, predominantly with volcanic arc geochemical signatures. The zircon protolith ages for the orthogneisses range from 1861 ± 3 to 1758 ± 3 Ma. Anatexis in the migmatitic Epupa gneisses was dated from a melt patch at 1762 ± 4 Ma, and the anatectic Otjitanda Granite has a zircon age of 1757 ± 4 Ma. Migmatization and anatexis therefore occurred almost immediately after granitoid emplacement and date a widespread high-temperature Palaeoproterozoic event at ∼1760 Ma which has not been recorded elswhere in northern Namibia. The Nd isotopic systematics of all dated samples are surprisingly similar and suggest formation of the protolith from a source region that probably separated from the depleted mantle about 2.4–2.0 Ga ago. A major Archaean component in the source area is unlikely.     

Groundwater targeting in a hard-rock terrain using fracture-pattern modeling, Niva River basin, Andhra Pradesh, India

In hard-rock terrain, due to the lack of primary porosity in the bedrock, joints, fault zones, and weathered zones are the sources for groundwater occurrence and movement. To study the groundwater potential in the hard-rock terrain and drought-prone area in the Niva River basin, southern Andhra Pradesh state, India, Landsat 5 photographic data were used to prepare an integrated hydrogeomorphology map. Larsson's integrated deformation model was applied to identify the various fracture systems, to pinpoint those younger tensile fracture sets that are the main groundwater reservoirs, and to understand the importance of fracture density in groundwater prospecting. N35°–55°E fractures were identified as tensile and N35°–55°W fractures as both tensile and shear in the study area. Apparently, these fractures are the youngest open fractures. Wherever N35°–55°E and N35°–55°W fracture densities are high, weathered-zone thickness is greater, water-table fluctuations are small, and well yields are high. Groundwater-potential zones were delineated and classified as very good, good to very good, moderate to good, and poor. Electronic Publication     

A statistical analysis applied to the Rf/φ method

A statistical analysis for the R_f/φ method is developed in the paper. The technique provides estimates of R_s, R_i and θ according to R_f and φ. Moreover, we can restore the pattern of initial orientations of marker objects by means of their frequency histogram, provided the strain is homogeneous. It is unnecessary to postulate random initial orientations if the principal directions of strain ellipsoid are known.     

Distribution of suspended particulate matter in the northern Bohai Bay in summer and its relation with thermocline

Field observations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the Bohai Bay, China have not been widely reported. The aim of this paper is to describe the horizontal and vertical distribution of mass and volume concentrations of SPM, respectively, based on observed data at 312 stations in the northern Bohai Bay during summer of 2006. A numerical model ECOMSED coupled with a sediment transport module was also established to further discuss the mechanism of the thermocline effect on the vertical distribution of SPM. The mass concentrations of SPM exhibited high inshore values and low offshore values in the horizontal distribution; while in the vertical direction, characteristics of the volume concentration of SPM can be divided into two types: one with a sharp peak at depth of 10–15 m and another without. The peak value at the depth of the thermocline was resulted from concentrated phytoplankton. A numerical experiment further displayed that the thermocline can also prevent particles from being resuspended upward.     

Multiple magnetic clouds in interplanetary space

An interplanetary magnetic cloud (MC) is usually considered the byproduct of a coronal mass ejection (CME). Due to the frequent occurrence of CMEs, multiple magnetic clouds (multi-MCs), in which one MC catches up with another, should be a relatively common phenomenon. A simple flux rope model is used to get the primary magnetic field features of multi-MCs. Results indicate that the magnetic field configuration of multi-MCs mainly depends on the magnetic field characteristics of each member of multi-MCs. It may be entirely different in another situation. Moreover, we fit the data from the Wind spacecraft by using this model. Comparing the model with the observations, we verify the existence of multi-MCs, and propose some suggestions for further work.