Impact of Gas Adsorption Induced Coal Matrix Damage on the Evolution of Coal Permeability

It has been widely reported that coal permeability can change from reduction to enhancement due to gas adsorption even under the constant effective stress condition, which is apparently inconsistent with the classic theoretical solutions. This study addresses this inconsistency through explicit simulations of the dynamic interactions between coal matrix swelling/shrinking induced damage and fracture aperture alteration, and translations of these interactions to permeability evolution under the constant effective stress condition. We develop a coupled coal–gas interaction model that incorporates the material heterogeneity and damage evolution of coal, which allows us to couple the progressive development of damage zone with gas adsorption processes within the coal matrix. For the case of constant effective stress, coal permeability changes from reduction to enhancement while the damage zone within the coal matrix develops from the fracture wall to further inside the matrix. As the peak Langmuir strain is approached, the decrease of permeability halts and permeability increases with pressure. The transition of permeability reduction to permeability enhancement during gas adsorption, which may be closely related to the damage zone development in coal matrix, is controlled by coal heterogeneity, external boundary condition, and adsorption-induced swelling.     

Change analysis of rice area and production in China during the past three decades

Rice＇s spatial-temporal distributions, which are critical for agricultural, environ- mental and food security research, are affected by natural conditions as well as socio-eco- nomic developments. Based on multi-source data, an effective model named the Spatial Production Allocation Model （SPAM） which integrates arable land distribution, administrative unit statistics of crop data, agricultural irrigation data and crop suitability data, was used to get a series of spatial distributions of rice area and production with 10-km pixels at a national scale -it was applied from the early 1980s onwards and used to analyze the pattern of spatial and temporal changes. The results show that significant changes occurred in rice in China during 1980-2010. Overall, more than 50% of the rice area decreased, while nearly 70% of rice production increased in the change region during 1980-2010. Spatially, most of the increased area and production were in Northeast China, especially, in Jilin and Heilongjiang; most of the decreased area and production were located in Southeast China, especially, in regions of rapidly urbanization in Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang. Thus, the centroid of rice area was moved northeast approximately 230 km since 1980, and rice production about 320 km, which means rice production moved northeastward faster than rice area because of the significant rice yield increase in Northeast China. The results also show that rice area change had a decisive impact on rice production change. About 54.5% of the increase in rice pro- duction is due to the expansion of sown area, while around 83.2% of the decrease in rice production is due to contraction of rice area. This implies that rice production increase may be due to area expansion and other non-area factors, but reduced rice production could largely be attributed to rice area decrease.     

Sequence architecture and depositional evolution of the Ordovician carbonate platform margins in the Tarim Basin and its response to tectonism and sea‐level change

The sequence architecture and depositional evolution of the Ordovician carbonate platform margins in the Tarim Basin, China, were formed in response to the interplay of tectonism and sea‐level change, their history being documented by the integrated analysis of many seismic lines, drilling and outcrop data. The Ordovician carbonate system in the basin is divided into four composite sequences defined by major unconformities. Each sequence consists of a regional depositional cycle from transgression with an onlapping transgressive systems tract (TST) to regression with a prograding highstand systems tract (HST), and can be further subdivided into 10 third‐order sequences based on subordinate discontinuous boundaries at the carbonate platform marginal zones. Constrained by the marginal slope of the early‐rifted Manjiaer aulacogen, the carbonate platform margins of the Lower and Middle Ordovician that prograded eastward in an arcuate belt extending generally north‐south across the northern part of the basin. The development of the Tazhong uplift due to compression resulted in an extensive paleokarst hiatus between the Middle and the Upper Ordovician in the south‐central basin, and subsequently constrained the formation of a peninsula‐shaped carbonate platform whose margins were controlled by marginal thrust‐fault belts of the paleo‐uplift during the Late Ordovician. In the northern basin, the Late Ordovician carbonate platform margin developed around the marginal slope of the Tabei paleouplift. The transgressive–regressive cycles of the carbonate system are comparable and seem to have occurred simultaneously across the entire basin, suggesting that the cyclic sequence architecture was fundamentally controlled by eustatic fluctuations. Stacking patterns of the composite sequences varied due to the interplay between the accommodation produced by tectonism and sea‐level change, and the carbonate production rate. The reef–shoal facies complexes that developed along the platform margins, with paleokarst development at unconformities, constitute the major reservoir of large petroleum reserves in the basin.     

The first extra-large helium-rich gas field identified in a tight sandstone of the Dongsheng Gas Field,Ordos Basin,China

Science China Earth Sciences - Helium gas is a scarce but important strategic resource, which is usually associated with natural gas. Presently, only one extra-large helium-rich gas field has been...     

Potential promoted productivity and spatial patterns of medium- and low-yield cropland land in China

With a continuously increasing population and better food consumption levels, improving the efficiency of arable land use and increasing its productivity have become fundamental strategies to meet the growing food security needs in China. A spatial distribution map of medium- and low-yield cropland is necessary to implement plans for cropland improvement. In this study, we developed a new method to identify high-, medium-, and low-yield cropland from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data at a spatial resolution of 500 m. The method could be used to reflect the regional heterogeneity of cropland productivity because the classification standard was based on the regionalization of cropping systems in China. The results showed that the proportion of high-, medium-, and low-yield cropland in China was 21%, 39%, and 40%, respectively. About 75% of the low-yield cropland was located in hilly and mountainous areas, and about 53% of the high-yield cropland was located in plain areas. The five provinces with the largest area of high-yield cropland were all located in the Huang-Huai-Hai region, and the area amounted to 42% of the national high-yield cropland area. Meanwhile, the proportion of high-yield cropland was lower than 15% in Heilongjiang, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia, which had the largest area allocated to cropland in China. If all the medium-yield cropland could be improved to the productive level of high-yield cropland and the low-yield cropland could be improved to the level of medium-yield cropland, the total productivity of the land would increase 19% and 24%, respectively.     

Validation of the effects of temperature simulated by multi-model ensemble and prediction of mean temperature changes for the next three decades in China

Using series of daily average temperature observations over the period of 1961–1999 of 701 meteorological stations in China, and simulated results of 20 global climate models (such as BCCR_BCM2.0, CGCM3T47) during the same period as the observation, we validate and analyze the simulated results of the models by using three factor statistical method, achieve the results of multi- model ensemble, test and verify the results of multi-model ensemble by using the observation data during the period of 1991–1999. Finally, we analyze changes of the annual mean temperature result of multi-mode ensemble prediction for the period of 2011–2040 under the emission scenarios A2, A1B and B1. Analyzed results show that: (1) Global climate models can reproduce Chinese regional spatial distribution of annual mean temperature, especially in low latitudes and eastern China. (2) With the factor of the trend of annual mean temperature changes in reference period, there is an obvious bias between the model and the observation. (3) Testing the result of multi-model ensemble during the period of 1991–1999, we can simulate the trend of temperature increase. Compared to observation, the result of different weighing multi-model ensemble prediction is better than the same weighing ensemble. (4) For the period of 2011–2040, the growth of the annual mean temperature in China, which results from multi-mode ensemble prediction, is above 1 °C. In the spatial distribution of annual mean temperature, under the emission scenarios of A2, A1B and B1, the trend of growth in South China region is the smallest, the increment is less than or equals to 0.8 °C; the trends in the northwestern region and south of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are the largest, the increment is more than 1 °C.     

GPS automatic monitoring system for outside deformation of Geheyan Dam on the Qingjiang River

In this paper, the background of developing GPS Automatic Monitoring System for outside deformation of Geheyan Dam is described concisely. The framework, precision and features of the system are stated in detail. Finally, the prospective application of the system is introduced.     

东南极埃默里冰架东缘赖茵博尔特丘陵构造变形过程及其构造意义

对赖茵博尔特丘陵地区的构造变形过程分析表明,该地区发育4期主要构造变形.D1期主要是区域性近EW向片麻理形成阶段,其变形时代为＞970 Ma;D2期是在正片麻岩形成了近EW向轴面陡立韧性剪切褶皱,以及剪切面理上发育的各种紧闭不对称褶皱和低角度拉伸线理,其变形时代为新元古代早期.D3期变形发生在寒武纪早期,以构造抬升至地...     

Physicochemistry and Mineralogy of Storm Dust and Dust Sediment in Northern China

Dust sediments collected from 1995 to 1998 in Beijing, Dunhuang, Inner Mongolia, Kashi, the Kunlun Mountains, Lanzhou, Ningxia, the Taklimakan Desert, and Xi‘an, China, were characterized in terms of their physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties. Most aerosols and dust analysed ranged in texture from silty clay to clay loam. Their median particle diameters (Mds) generally ranged between 5 to 63μm,coinciding with those of loess from central China and the finest sand from northwestern China. The dust sediments were characterized by a predominance of SiO2 and Al2O3, followed by K2O. Their SiO2/Al2O3and K2O/SiO2 molar ratios ranged from 5.17 to 8.43 and from 0.009 to 0.0368, respectively. The mass concentration spectrum during a dust storm showed a single peak, rather than the triple peak generally observed under clear sky conditions. The dominant minerals were chlorite, illite, calcite, and dolomite.These physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties were consistent with those of aeolian soils and loess in western and central China. The results suggest that aerosols and fine-gained fractions of dust sediments collected in northern China are mainly composed of soil material transported from the arid and semiarid regions of China and Mongolia by prevailing winds. The rate of deposition and properties of dust falling on eastern China were strongly influenced by meteorological conditions, season, latitude, longitude, and altitude of the sampling sites.     

岩石受力状态对弹性波传播速度影响的初步研究

岩石所受的三向应力状态对其弹性波传播性质有一定的影响，此认识为所做的以泥质砂岩、泥岩和硅质胶结的坚硬砂岩为试样的实验所证实。为保证岩石中存在微隙，对部分试样还作了高温预热处理。实验结果表明，泥质砂岩和泥岩的Ｖ＿ｐ／Ｖ＿ｓ值几乎保持不变，但坚硬砂岩的Ｖ＿ｐ／Ｖ＿ｓ值曲线却在应力达破坏荷载的９０％左右时出现下凹现象，经热处理的硬砂岩的这一下凹现象则更突出。