Major factors influencing boron adsorption in sediments—a case study of modern sediments in Qinghai Lake

Because the boron (B) concentration in water has an apparent positive correlation with salinity, the B content adsorbed in sediments is often regarded as an important indicator to reconstruct the water salinity in a sedimentary environment. The premise of the quantitative reconstruction of paleosalinity is that the B uptake in sediments is proportional to the B concentration in water; however, the study showed that there is no direct relationship. The B absorption in sediments can be affected by both the content of the clay minerals and the total organic carbon content. The data from testing modern sediments and water samples in the Qinghai Lake show that a higher content in clay minerals is beneficial for B adsorption. Furthermore, the organic carbon from halophiles has a strong effect on the enrichment of B. Therefore, the organic carbon content in sediments should be considered when the paleosalinity of water is reconstructed using its B content. It is also thought that the Adams and Couch formulas are not suitable for reconstructing the salinity of water with a high organic carbon content in sediments because they consider only the effect of clay minerals on the adsorbed B without the contribution of organic carbon.     

考虑土拱效应的抗滑桩桩间挡土板压力计算方法

为合理计算抗滑桩桩间挡土板的内力与变形,采用弹性力学理论分析了桩间土拱效应,计算确定出土拱的平面形态呈中间凸起而两侧略微凹陷的曲线特征,在此基础上,引入Drucker-Prager强度准则以考虑中间主应力影响分析三维土拱效应,通过桩间土体的屈服函数分析确定了沿竖向变化的水平土拱矢高,进而计算出因桩间局部塌落拱的产生而作用于挡土板上的土压力,并按空间土压力分布模式与矩形简支板模型计算挡土板。实例分析结果表明,本文方法和数值模拟得到的沿深度方向土拱矢高值较为接近;本文方法与规范方法计算得到的板体最大弯矩值相近,其误差不超过3%。     

Upper mantle heterogeneities beneath Central Europe

Summary. An inversion of ISC travel-time data from selected earthquakes in the distance range 30°-90° to 53 stations in Central Europe has been used to model velocity down to 600 km depth. The model explains 0.1–0.2s of the residuals, as for other array studies, leaving 0.5 s unexplained as noise. The uppermost 100 km of the mantle and crust contains inhomogeneities that correlate remarkably well with the geology. This may be due to deep-seated thermal anomalies or, in some areas, to delays introduced by passage of the rays through sedimentary cover. The deeper anomalies are smaller and unrelated to those in the lithosphere, which suggests that the asthenosphere is decoupled from the rigid lithosphere. The structure at 600 km depth is again quite inhomogeneous and might be due to undulations of the 650 km discontinuity. The models show some suggestion of a high velocity slab trending from east to west beneath the Alps.     

Boulder tracks and nature of lunar soil

Boulder tracks from 19 different locations on the Moon, observable in Lunar Orbiter photographs, have been examined. Measurements of the track width indicate that some of the boulders sank considerably deeper than others. It is suggested that lunar surface materials vary from place to place; the state of compaction (density of lunar soil) is probably one of the significant variables. Using bearing capacity theory, modified to be applicable to the rolling boulder problem by theoretical studies and extensive testing, the friction angle of the lunar soil was estimated. Most of the results were between 24 and 47 degrees with an arithmetic average of 37 degrees. These values suggest corresponding density variations of 1.25 to 2.00 g/cm³.     

Sub-surface precipitation of salts in supercritical seawater

Extremely low solubility of typical seawater salts within certain supercritical sections of their pressure–temperature composition space is a proven experimental fact. Its consequences are often referred to as either 'shock crystallization' or 'out-salting'. Our alternative model for the formation of salt deposits hypothesizes that high temperatures and pressures characteristic for the high heat-flow zones of tectonically active basins may bring submarine brines into the out-salting regions and result in the accumulation of geological-scale salt depositions.
To confirm the laboratory observations, molecular-scale simulations (molecular dynamics) have been employed to study structural changes in a model seawater system where temperature increased from ambient to near-critical and supercritical. Fluid properties and phase transition regions extracted from the simulations were then used as input parameters for a reservoir simulator program to model out-salting in a simple hydrothermal geological system. Both numerical simulations and laboratory experiments confirm that supercritical out-salting is a viable process of geological significance for the formation and accumulation of evaporites. We suggest two regions where hydrothermally associated salts may be depositing today: Atlantis II Deep, in the Red Sea, and Lake Asale, Ethiopia.     

南海共轭陆缘新生代碳酸盐台地 对海盆构造演化的响应

南海新生代碳酸盐台地分布面积广、厚度巨大,但大部分已经淹没,成为淹没碳酸盐台地,它们孕育着南海海盆演变的 重要信息.南海碳酸盐台地伴随着南海陆缘张裂而发育,最初主要发育在两个共轭陆缘伸展地块的构造高地.南海经历了大陆 边缘伸展、岩石圈减薄和地幔剥露等过程,始新世到早渐新世的第二期NE-SW 向扩张,形成了破裂不整合面,随之发生了晚 渐新世至早中新世的海底扩张,形成中央海盆.构造沉降提供了台地生长的可容纳空间,构造掀斜作用、断裂作用和前陆盆地 前沿挤压褶皱的迁移控制了台地各单元厚度、沉积相和地震反射终止特征在横向上的变化,构造控制的相对海平面的变化控 制了不同级序生物礁碳酸盐台地的沉积旋回,而后期加速沉降导致碳酸盐台地淹没.      

广东台山淤泥质海岸高分辨率地震资料解释

根据广东台山广海湾150km高分辨率地震资料,研究岬湾型海岸起伏多变的基底和上覆的第四纪沉积层序、沉积演化以及复杂的新构造作用。该区晚第四纪自下而上发育有5个层序：（1）滨海相杂色粘土,下部为河道充填;（2）河道冲积砂;（3）内大陆架粉砂质粘土;（4）滨海相潮坪沉积;（5）河口湾淤泥质沉积。研究区基底形态起伏较大,主要为黑云母花岗岩风化壳及少量变质岩。NNE和NEE向两组断裂系统最为发育,它们控制了盆地发展并经历了两期活动。     

Numerical simulation of mechanical compaction of deepwater shallow sediments

To study the compaction law and overpressure evolution in deepwater shallow sediments, a large-strain compaction model that considers material nonlinearity and moving boundary is formulated. The model considers the dependence of permeability and material properties on void ratio. The modified Cam-Clay model is selected as the constitutive relations of the sediments, and the deactivation/reactivation method is used to capture the moving top surface during the deposition process. A one-dimensional model is used to study the compaction law of the shallow sediments. Results show that the settlement of the shallow sediments is large under their own weight during compaction. The void ratio decreases strictly with burial depth and decreases more quickly near the seafloor than in the deeper layers. The generation of abnormal pressure in the shallow flow sands is closely related to the compaction law of shallow sediments. The two main factors that affect the generation of overpressure in the sands are deposition rate and permeability of overlying clay sediments. Overpressure increases with an increase in deposition rate and a decrease in the permeability of the overlying clay sediment. Moreover, an upper limit for the overpressure exists. A two-dimensional model is used to study the differential compaction of the shallow sediments. The pore pressure will still increase due to the inflow of the pore fluid from the neighboring clay sediment even though the deposition process is interrupted.     

Pre-drilling prediction techniques on the high-temperature high-pressure hydrocarbon reservoirs offshore Hainan Island,China

Decreasing the risks and geohazards associated with drilling engineering in high-temperature high-pressure (HTHP) geologic settings begins with the implementation of pre-drilling prediction techniques (PPTs). To improve the accuracy of geopressure prediction in HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs offshore Hainan Island, we made a comprehensive summary of current PPTs to identify existing problems and challenges by analyzing the global distribution of HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs, the research status of PPTs, and the geologic setting and its HTHP formation mechanism. Our research results indicate that the HTHP formation mechanism in the study area is caused by multiple factors, including rapid loading, diapir intrusions, hydrocarbon generation, and the thermal expansion of pore fluids. Due to this multi-factor interaction, a cloud of HTHP hydrocarbon reservoirs has developed in the Ying-Qiong Basin, but only traditional PPTs have been implemented, based on the assumption of conditions that do not conform to the actual geologic environment, e.g., Bellotti’s law and Eaton’s law. In this paper, we focus on these issues, identify some challenges and solutions, and call for further PPT research to address the drawbacks of previous works and meet the challenges associated with the deepwater technology gap. In this way, we hope to contribute to the improved accuracy of geopressure prediction prior to drilling and provide support for future HTHP drilling offshore Hainan Island.     

南海西北次海盆构造演化的沉积响应

通过对南海西北次海盆新获得的地震资料进行综合解释和层序地层分析,揭示了海盆中的沉积对构造演化阶段的响应。始新世-早渐新世陆缘裂陷期,盆地以对称裂谷形式,发育地堑裂谷层序,沉积以近物源为特征,相变大,发育了冲积扇-扇三角洲-湖相沉积,沉积体系的配置受同沉积断裂控制明显,快速沉降和充分的物源供给决定了沉积体系的构成特征。晚渐新世海底扩张期,岩石圈破裂,陆缘进一步拉开并开始海底扩张,出现海相沉积,来自陆坡的陆架边缘三角洲越过陆坡进入海盆,在海盆内沉积了一套向海盆中部逐渐减薄的楔状地层,并伴有大量的火山碎屑沉积物。早-中新世以来热沉降期,随着构造沉降增大,相对海平面总体不断上升,进入深水盆地,形成陆架陆坡体系,大量的碎屑物质以重力流、深水底流等深水作用方式进入海盆;沉降晚期陆架-陆坡物源供应减弱,琼东南中央峡谷成为其主要的物质供应来源通道,在此期间二次海平面下降、回升的综合作用下,海盆内发育了多期以下切水道为特征的低水位域沉积体系。