Characteristics of drift pumice from New Caledonia beaches

Siliceous drift pumice was collected from a total of 40 beaches around the main island of New Caledonia, Southwest Pacific, in order to determine its provenance. New Caledonia is enclosed by a barrier reef lagoon whose 2008 designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site brought attention to the environmental degradation caused by a century of open cast nickel mining. The frequent, voluminous pumice eruptions in the Southwest Pacific provide ample source material that is somewhat durable, highly transportable in water, and easy to collect and analyze. Geochemical and mineralogical analyses were used to identify the source of the pumice in order to map the transport vector across the open ocean and into the lagoon. Drift pumice was sampled during 2008 and 2010. The mineral assemblage of the pumice was consistently calcic plagioclase, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and opaque minerals. All of the pumice was of fairly uniform geochemistry: low in mafic elements, low in alkalis, with LILE enriched compared to HFSE, and negative Eu, Ti, and Zr anomalies. The pumice is predominately dacitic and tholeiitic. This geochemical signature was consistent with published data from the Tonga arc, which is further supported by the mineralogy. With the exception of two samples (which probably came from either the Kermadec arc or Vanuatu) all of the pumice comes from the Tonga arc. The samples from 2008 are consistent with pumice erupted from Metis Shoal in 2006, and the majority of 2010 samples are consistent with pumice erupted from an unnamed volcano (0403-091) that erupted in 2001.     

Latitudinal change in benthic foraminiferal fauna by ITCZ movement along the ~131°W transect in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

Modern and fossil benthic foraminifera were examined from nine surface sediments and two piston cores along the ~131°W transect in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. This study was conducted to clarify the biotic response of abyssal benthic foraminifera during the last 220 ka to changes in the seasonal extent of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The abundance of modern benthic foraminifera was high at stations between the equator and 6°N, whereas it was low at stations north of 6°N, which is generally consistent with the latitudinal CaCO₃ distribution of surface sediments. The northward increase of Epistominella exigua from the equator to ~6°N is similar to the seasonal variations in chlorophyll-a concentrations in the surface water and ITCZ position along ~131°W. This species was more common at core PC5103 (~6°N) than at core PC5101 (~2°N) after ~130 ka, when the Shannon-Wiener diversity (H’) between the two cores started to diverge. Hence, the presentday latitudinal difference in benthic foraminifera (E. exigua and species diversity) between ~2°N and ~6°N along ~131°W has been generally established since ~130 ka. According to the modern relationship between the seasonality of primary production and seasonal ITCZ variations in the northern margin of the ITCZ, the latitudinal divergence of benthic foraminiferal fauna between ~2°N and ~6°N since ~130 ka appear to have been induced by more distinct variations in the seasonal movement of ITCZ.     

Rank-size distributions of Chinese cities: Macro and micro patterns

A large number of studies have been conducted to find a better fit for city rank-size distributions in different countries. Many theoretical curves have been proposed, but no consensus has been reached. This study argues for the importance of examining city rank-size distribution across different city size scales. In addition to focusing on macro patterns, this study examines the micro patterns of city rank-size distributions in China. A moving window method is developed to detect rank-size distributions of cities in different sizes incrementally. The results show that micro patterns of the actual city rank-size distributions in China are much more complex than those suggested by the three theoretical distributions examined(Pareto, quadratic, and q-exponential distributions). City size distributions present persistent discontinuities. Large cities are more evenly distributed than small cities and than that predicted by Zipf′s law. In addition, the trend is becoming more pronounced over time. Medium-sized cities became evenly distributed first and then unevenly distributed thereafter. The rank-size distributions of small cities are relatively consistent. While the three theoretical distributions examined in this study all have the ability to detect the overall dynamics of city rank-size distributions, the actual macro distribution may be composed of a combination of the three theoretical distributions.     

Heavy metals in sediments and their bioaccumulation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phragmites australis</Emphasis> in the Anzali wetland of Iran

Accumulation of metals in both sediments and Phragmites australis organs was studied. Samples were collected from seven stations located in Anzali wetland, Iran. The samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results showed that concentration of the studied metals (except As and Cd) were higher in sediments than in P. australis organs. Metal accumulation was found to be significantly (P <0.05) higher in roots than in above-ground organs of P. australis. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) and the transfer factor (TF) also verified the highest rate of metal accumulation in roots and their reduced mobility from roots to the above-ground organs. Pearson correlation coefficient showed significant relationships between metal concentrations in sediments and those in plant organs. It should be pointed out that sediment and plant samples exhibited higher metal concentrations in eastern and central parts than in western and southern parts of the wetland. The mean concentrations of all studied elements (except for Fe, V and Al) were higher in these sediment samples than in the Earth’s crust and shale. High accumulation of metals in P. australis organs (roots and shoots) is indicative of their high bioavailability in sediments of the wetland. The correlation between metal concentrations in sediments and in P. australis indicates that plant organs are good bioindicators of metal pollution in sediments of Anzali wetland.     

Geochemistry and geochronology of Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous intrusions related to some Au (Sb) deposits in southern Anhui: a case study and review

Some Au deposits in southern Anhui Province have recently been found to be closely associated with Late Mesozoic intrusions. Typical examples include the Huashan Au (Sb) deposit and Au deposits at Zhaojialing, Wuxi, and Liaojia. In order to understand the mechanisms that led the formation of these Au deposits, we make detailed reviews on the geological characteristics of these Au deposits. Specifically, we present new LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating, along with elemental and Hf isotopic data from the Huashan Au (Sb) deposit. Our data suggests that the Huashan ore-related intrusions were emplaced during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods (144–148 Ma). They are characterized by arc-magma features and high oxygen fugacity and are rich in inherited zircons. Zircon U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotopes from intrusions suggest that Proterozoic juvenile lithosphere is the main source of these intrusions. The regional geological history implies that lithosphere beneath southern Anhui was produced during a Proterozoic subduction and was fertilized with Au (Cu) in the process. Integrated with the results of previous studies, we inferred that Late Mesozoic intrusions formed by the remelting of the lithosphere could provide the metal endowment for the Au-rich deposits in southern Anhui.     

The Fragmentation in a Protoplanetary Disk and the Properties of the Resultant Self-Gravitating Clumps

We study the fragmentation properties in the protoplanetary disk and properties of the resultant self-gravitating clumps using our newly constructed disk model. Our disk model includes the mass inflall term from a molecular cloud core and the photoevaporation winds effect. We adopt the conventional fragmentation criterion to judge whether a protoplanetary disk can fragment. In this work, we follow our previous work to investigate the properties of the resultant self-gravitating clumps. In our calculation, the initial masses of the resultant self-gravitating clumps lie in the range of tens of M_J to more than one hundred of M_J, where M_J is the Jupiter mass. These initial masses can seemingly account for the masses of extrasolar planets in magnitude. We also calculate the subsequent gas accretion of clumps in 1.27 × 10⁴ yr after the formation of self-gravitating clumps. We find that the subsequent gas accretion of self-gravitating clumps is very efficient, and the clump masses grow to hundreds of M_J and the physical radii R_c of clumps increase to about 10 AU. Additionally, we also calculate the orbital migration of clumps. We find that most clumps have short migration timescale to be accreted onto the protostar, and only a small fraction of clumps have long migration timescale (>10⁶ yr) to successfully become gas giant planets. These results are consistent with previous studies.     

Ensemble clustering for efficient robust optimization of naturally fractured reservoirs

In the development of naturally fractured reservoirs (NFRs), the existence of natural fractures induces severe fingering and breakthrough. To manage the flooding process and improve the ultimate recovery, we propose a numerical workflow to generate optimal production schedules for smart wells, in which the inflow control valve (ICV) settings can be controlled individually. To properly consider the uncertainty introduced by randomly distributed natural fractures, the robust optimization would require a large ensemble size and it would be computationally demanding. In this work, a hierarchical clustering method is proposed to select representative models for the robust optimization in order to avoid redundant simulation runs and improve the efficiency of the robust optimization. By reducing the full ensemble of models into a small subset ensemble, the efficiency of the robust optimization algorithm is significantly improved. The robust optimization is performed using the StoSAG scheme to find the optimal well controls that maximize the net-present-value (NPV) of the NFR’s development. Due to the discrete property of a natural fracture field, traditional feature extraction methods such as model-parameter-based clustering may not be directly applicable. Therefore, two different kinds of clustering-based optimization methods, a state-based (e.g., s _w profiles) clustering and a response-based (e.g., production rates) clustering, are proposed and compared. The computational results show that the robust clustering optimization could increase the computational efficiency significantly without sacrificing much expected NPV of the robust optimization. Moreover, the performance of different clustering algorithms varies widely in correspondence to different selections of clustering features. By properly extracting model features, the clustered subset could adequately represent the uncertainty of the full ensemble.     

Identifying influence areas with connectivity analysis – application to the local perturbation of heterogeneity distribution for history matching

Numerical representations of a target reservoir can help to assess the potential of different development plans. To be as predictive as possible, these representations or models must reproduce the data (static, dynamic) collected on the field. However, constraining reservoir models to dynamic data – the history-matching process – can be very time consuming. Many uncertain parameters need to be taken into account, such as the spatial distribution of petrophysical properties. This distribution is mostly unknown and usually represented by millions of values populating the reservoir grid. Dedicated parameterization techniques make it possible to investigate many spatial distributions from a small number of parameters. The efficiency of the matching process can be improved from the perturbation of specific regions of the reservoir. Distinct approaches can be considered to define such regions. For instance, one can refer to streamlines. The leading idea is to identify areas that influence the production behavior where the data are poorly reproduced. Here, we propose alternative methods based on connectivity analysis to easily provide approximate influence areas for any fluid-flow simulation. The reservoir is viewed as a set of nodes connected by weighted links that characterize the distance between two nodes. The path between nodes (or grid blocks) with the lowest cumulative weight yields an approximate flow path used to define influence areas. The potential of the approach is demonstrated on the basis of 2D synthetic cases for the joint integration of production and 4D saturation data, considering several formulations for the weights attributed to the links.     

Hydrogeology of a montane headwater groundwater system downgradient of a coal-mine waste rock dump: Elk Valley,British Columbia,Canada

Steelmaking-coal waste rock placed in mountain catchments in the Elk Valley, British Columbia, Canada, drain constituents of interest (CIs) to surface water downgradient of the waste rock dumps. The role of groundwater in transporting CIs in the headwaters of mountain catchments is not well understood. This study characterizes the physical hydrogeology of a portion of a 10-km² headwater catchment (West Line Creek) downgradient of a 2.7-km² waste rock dump placed over a natural headwater valley-bottom groundwater system. The study site was instrumented with 13 monitoring wells. Drill core samples were collected to determine subsurface lithology and geotechnical properties. The groundwater system was characterized using field testing and water-level monitoring. The valley-bottom sediments were composed of unconsolidated glacial and meltwater successions (<64 m thick) deposited as a series of cut and fill structures overlying shale bedrock. An unconfined basal alluvial aquifer located above fractured bedrock was identified as the primary conduit for groundwater flow toward Line Creek (650 m from the toe of the dump). Discharge through the basal alluvial aquifer was estimated using the geometric mean hydraulic conductivity (±1 standard deviation). These calculations suggest groundwater discharge could account for approximately 15% (ranging from 2 to 60%) of the total water discharged from the watershed. The residence time from the base of the waste rock dump to Line Creek was estimated at <3 years. The groundwater system was defined as a snowmelt (i.e., nival) regime dominated by direct recharge (percolation of precipitation) across the catchment.