Simulations of a coupled hydro-chemo-mechanical system in rocks

A coupled hydro-chemo-mechanical numerical model is developed for these coupled phenomena in many engineering fields. The model has been applied to predicting the response of a stressed rockmass column to an injected reactive fluid (reagent) flow. The response includes evolutions of porosity, permeability, reagent and mineral concentrations during dissolution. In the model, the progress of dissolution is defined by the change in porosity ratio and the porosity increases with dissolution assuming there is no precipitation. The numerical evolutions of porosity, permeability, reagent and mineral concentrations during dissolution are validated against steady state solutions. The model results show that these evolutions are regulated to a certain extent by the applied external loadings: an applied extensional stress enhances the progress of the dissolution process while an applied compression stress slows the progress of the dissolution process. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An Anatomy of Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability

Adaptation to climate variability and change is important both for impact assessment (to estimate adaptations which are likely to occur) and for policy development (to advise on or prescribe adaptations). This paper proposes an "anatomy of adaptation" to systematically specify and differentiate adaptations, based upon three questions: (i) adapt to what? (ii) who or what adapts? and (iii) how does adaptation occur? Climatic stimuli include changes in long-term mean conditions and variability about means, both current and future, and including extremes. Adaptation depends fundamentally on the characteristics of the system of interest, including its sensitivities and vulnerabilities. The nature of adaptation processes and forms can be distinguished by numerous attributes including timing, purposefulness, and effect. The paper notes the contribution of conceptual and numerical models and empirical studies to the understanding of adaptation, and outlines approaches to the normative evaluation of adaptation measures and strategies.     

Lacustrine basin hydrocarbon exploration – current thoughts

Although much of the world's petroleum resource-base is associated with marine systems, regionally lacustrine petroleum systems are important. Individual accumulations may exceed several billion barrels. In each of these cases the oil is derived from a lacustrine source rock and may be produced from either nonmarine or marine reservoir rocks. The purpose of this paper is to describe the factors that control lacustrine source rock development and the nature of lacustrine reservoirs. Lacustrine oils display different physical and chemical characteristics than their marine counterparts. These differences can be related to the nature of their precursor material. Although the nature of the products are different, the geochemical threshold criteria for defining source rocks in both settings are the same because of common expulsion requirements. Commercially significant lacustrine systems require the presence of large, long-lived lakes. Such lake settings are tectonic in origin and restricted to climatic settings where precipitation exceeds evaporation. Within these large lake systems three primary factors determine source rock potential and quality. These factors are primary productivity level, organic preservation potential, and matrix sedimentation rate, which controls the dilution of preserved organic matter. Source rock potential is maximized where both productivity and preservation potential are maximized and sedimentation rate is minimized. To some degree these factors can compensate for each other. Hydrocarbon reservoir potential within lacustrine basins is partially impacted by overall tectonic setting. Within extensional settings, transport distances tend to be limited, with much of the sediment being transported away from the basin. The sediments delivered to the lake are poorly sorted and sedimentologically immature, commonly resulting in poor reservoirs due to both primary properties and their susceptibility to diagenesis. Within rifts better reservoirs tend to develop along platform or flexural margins. Stacking of reservoirs is important in lacustrine systems but baffles and barriers are often present between individual sand units. These barriers form as a result of lake level fluctuations. In compressional settings transport distances tend to be longer, resulting in more mature, better sorted sediments leading to higher quality reservoirs. These reservoirs typically develop in fluvial-deltaic and wave-dominated shoreline settings. Lacustrine carbonate reservoirs are locally important. These carbonates tend to develop during lake level lowstands and are dependent on diagenesis (dissolution and karstification) for porosity and permeability development. Lacustrine reservoirs are often stratigraphically and areally limited and display low individual well production rates. Within pure lacustrine systems exploration opportunities appear to be often restricted by either reservoir presence or quality (i.e., production rates). The best exploration opportunities in lacustrine basins appear to be associated with hybrid systems where a lacustrine source and marine reservoir exist.     

A modelling framework for evaluation of the hydrological impacts of nature‐based approaches to flood risk management,with application to in‐channel interventions across a 29‐km2 scale catchment in the United Kingdom

Nature‐based approaches to flood risk management are increasing in popularity. Evidence for the effectiveness at the catchment scale of such spatially distributed upstream measures is inconclusive. However, it also remains an open question whether, under certain conditions, the individual impacts of a collection of flood mitigation interventions could combine to produce a detrimental effect on runoff response. A modelling framework is presented for evaluation of the impacts of hillslope and in‐channel natural flood management interventions. It couples an existing semidistributed hydrological model with a new, spatially explicit, hydraulic channel network routing model. The model is applied to assess a potential flood mitigation scheme in an agricultural catchment in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom, comprising various configurations of a single variety of in‐channel feature. The hydrological model is used to generate subsurface and surface fluxes for a flood event in 2012. The network routing model is then applied to evaluate the response to the addition of up to 59 features. Additional channel and floodplain storage of approximately 70,000 m³ is seen with a reduction of around 11% in peak discharge. Although this might be sufficient to reduce flooding in moderate events, it is inadequate to prevent flooding in the double‐peaked storm of the magnitude that caused damage within the catchment in 2012. Some strategies using features specific to this catchment are suggested in order to improve the attenuation that could be achieved by applying a nature‐based approach.     

Influence of a coarse interlayer on seawater intrusion and contaminant migration in coastal aquifers

Vertical 2D slice laboratory experiments were carried out in homogenous and layered sand tanks to elucidate the effects of a highly permeable (coarse‐grained sand) interlayer on seawater intrusion and transport of contaminants to a coastal sea. Tidal fluctuations produced oscillations in the seawater–freshwater transition zone, fluctuations of the contaminant infiltration rate and a zigzag contaminant plume outline. The seawater wedge became discontinuous at the (vertical) edges of the interlayer because of increased lateral movement of the seawater–freshwater interface within the interlayer. The contaminant plume formed a tail within the interlayer depending on the tidal stage, and similar to the wedge, its movement was accentuated. A simple analytical model that neglected vertical flow reliably predicted steady‐state seawater intrusion into the coastal aquifer. Numerical modeling was used to gain insight into the groundwater hydrodynamics and contaminant migration. The numerical results confirmed the experimental findings, i.e. that a highly permeable interlayer can provide a rapid transit path for contaminants to reach the seaward boundary and that the interlayer amplifies the effects of tidal fluctuations, resulting in wider transition zones for the seawater wedge and contaminant plume. Numerical simulations further showed that, with increasing interlayer hydraulic conductivity, the maximum seawater intrusion distance inside the interlayer increases approximately linearly. For the fixed‐head contaminant injection condition used, the model showed that contaminant infiltration increases approximately logarithmically with increasing interlayer hydraulic conductivity (other factors held fixed). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In situ U–Pb analysis of shocked zircon from the Charlevoix impact structure,Québec,Canada

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) U–Pb geochronology of shocked zircon grains in a vesicular‐fluidal impact melt rock from the ≥54 km Charlevoix impact structure, Québec, Canada, suggests an Ordovician to Silurian age of 450 ± 20 Ma for the impact. This age is anchored by concordant U–Pb results of ~450 Ma for a U‐rich, cryptocrystalline zircon grain in the melt rock, interpreted as a recrystallized metamict zircon crystal; the U–Th–Pb system of the metamict grain was seemingly chronometrically reset by the Charlevoix impact, but withstood later tectonometamorphic events. The new zircon age for Charlevoix is in agreement with a stratigraphically constrained Late Ordovician maximum age of ~453 Ma and corroborates earlier suggestions that the impact occurred most likely in the Ordovician, and not ~100 Myr later, as indicated by previous K/Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronologic results. The latter may reflect postimpact thermal overprint of impactites during the Salinian (Late Silurian to Early Devonian) and/or Acadian (Late Devonian) orogenies. U–Pb geochronology of zircon crystals in anorthosite exposed in the central uplift of the impact structure yielded a Grenvillian crystallization age of 1062 ± 11 Ma. The preferred Ordovician age for the Charlevoix impact structure, which is partially overthrusted by the Appalachian front, suggests the impact occurred during a phase of Taconian tectonism and an episode of enhanced asteroid bombardment of the Earth. Our results, moreover, demonstrate that (recrystallized) metamict zircon grains may be of particular interest in impact geochronology.     

Differential sensitivity of flounder (Platichthys flesus) in response to oestrogenic chemical exposure: an issue for design and interpretation of monitoring and research programmes

This study was conducted as an initial investigation of 'differential response' in one of the main sentinel organisms used for monitoring programmes in United Kingdom estuaries, the flounder Platichthys flesus. It has been hypothesised that monitoring using species with a wide geographical spread and limited migration, such as flounder, might result in the comparison of different genetic stocks and certainly of populations with differing early life stage contaminant exposure histories. Furthermore, it is probable that these pre-exposure and genetic differences could manifest themselves in an ability to respond differently to contaminant exposure, so-called 'differential response'. It is important that the extent and nature of this response is understood, if we want to be able to fully interpret the monitoring data from such programmes. During this study, flounder were collected from four separate sources; wild caught fish from the estuaries of the Rivers Alde, Mersey and Tyne, and farmed flounder from Port Erin Farm, Isle of Man. Under controlled laboratory conditions, groups of fish from each source were exposed to water-borne concentrations of the synthetic oestrogen ethynylestradiol (EE2) at a nominal concentration of 50 ng/l. Plasma was taken from each male fish after 6 and 10 days exposure and analysed for the presence of vitellogenin (VTG) using an ELISA technique. Significant levels of VTG induction were evident in fish from all sources after both 6 and 10 days exposure. Flounder from the Mersey were the only fish with significantly elevated initial background levels of VTG (day 0) and this appeared to be reflected in that these specimens showed the highest induction response after day 6. However, after day 10, fish from all other sites had a slightly higher mean VTG than those from the Mersey which showed significantly (p < 0.05) lower mean plasma VTG. It is suggested that other differential responses may have been masked by the use of a high dose of EE2 which produced maximum induction in nearly all fish. The findings of the study are discussed in terms of implications for further research into the differential response issue and how the initial plasma VTG figures contribute to a time-series from the Mersey, Tyne and Alde estuaries.