Combining pump-and-treat and physical barriers for contaminant plume control

A detailed analysis is presented of the hydraulic efficiency of plume management alternatives that combine a conventional pump-and-treat system with vertical, physical hydraulic barriers such as slurry walls or sheet piles. Various design settings are examined for their potential to reduce the pumping rate needed to obtain a complete capture of a given contaminated area. Using established modeling techniques for flow and transport, those barrier configurations (specified by location, shape, and length) that yield a maximum reduction of the pumping rate are identified assuming homogeneous aquifer conditions. Selected configurations are further analyzed concerning their hydraulic performance under heterogeneous aquifer conditions by means of a stochastic approach (Monte Carlo simulations) with aquifer transmissivity as a random space function. The results show that physical barriers are an appropriate means to decrease expected (mean) pumping rates, as well as the variance of the corresponding pumping rate distribution at any given degree of heterogeneity. The methodology presented can be transferred easily to other aquifer scenarios, provided some basic premises are fulfilled, and may serve as a basis for reducing the pumping rate in existing pump-and-treat systems.     

High Resolution Köppen‐Geiger Classifications of Paleoclimate Simulations

The development and application of an algorithm to compute Köppen‐Geiger climate classifications from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) and Paleo Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP) climate model simulation data is described in this study. The classification algorithm was applied to data from the PMIP III paleoclimate experiments for the Last Glacial Maximum, 21k years before present (yBP), Mid‐Holocene (6k yBP) and the Pre‐Industrial (0k yBP, control run) time slices. To infer detailed classification maps, the simulation datasets were interpolated to a higher resolution. The classification method presented is based on the application of Open Source Software, and the implementation is described with attention to detail. The source code and the exact input data sets as well as the resulting data sets are provided to enable the application of the presented approach.     

Probleme der Lagerstättenlehre

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Die Bedeutung des Rückstandes von Druck-Lösungsvorgängen für stratigraphische Abfolgen,Wechsellagerung und Lagerstättenbildung

Zusammenfassung Druck-Lösungserscheinungen sind nicht auf stylolithische Kontakte beschränkt. Die Mehrzahl der Druck-Lösungsflächen ist glatt und nicht als solche erkennbar. Bei Abwesenheit von Stylolithisierung wird Druck-Lösungsrückstand meistens fälschlich als primäres Sediment angesprochen.Druckgelöstes Material wandert von Becken aus. Auf Schwellen führt es zu erhöhtem Stoffangebot für chemische und organische Ablagerung. Druckunlösliches Material konzentriert sich passiv in den Becken.Die Unterschiede zwischen benachbarten lithologischen Horizonten werden in stratigraphischen Abfolgen während der Diagenese über Druck-Lösungstätigkeit verstärkt. Wechsellagerungen können entstehen, indem relativ reine, fast monomineralische Horizonte (Kalkspat, Dolomit, Quarz) von Druck-Lösung kaum betroffen werden, während etwas mehr verunreinigte Schichten, besonders bei Gegenwart von Tonmineralien, bis auf ihren Lösungsrückstand zusammenschrumpfen können.Die während Faltung und Schieferung fortdauernde Druck-Lösungstätigkeit bewirkt weiteren Gesteinsschwund.Hauptsächlich synsedimentäre Lagerstätten können über Druck-Lösungsvorgänge während Diagenese und Orogenese eine weitere Anreicherung erfahren, indem Wertmineralien im Lösungsrückstand zurückbleiben. Verstärkte Anreicherungen sind in Richtung der Becken und Faltenschenkel zu erwarten.

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Pressure solution phenomena are not restricted to stylolitic contacts. The majority of pressure solution planes is smooth and not recognizable as such. Pressure solution residue in the absence of stylolitization is often misinterpreted as a primary sediment.Material dissolved under nonuniform pressure migrates from basins to ridges, where it leads to increased precipitation and organic deposition. The material that is insoluble under unilateral pressure thus becomes more concentrated in the basins.The differences between neighbouring lithological units in stratigraphic series are increased during diagenesis by pressure solution activity. Intercalations may result from relatively pure, almost monomineralic layers (e. g. calcite, dolomite, quartz) remaining relatively unaffected by pressure solution processes, while more impure layers, especially those containing clay minerals, may shrink to its solution residue.During folding and cleavage, continuing pressure solution activity results in further loss of rock matter.Mainly synsedimentary ore deposits may be further concentrated by pressure solution processes, both during diagenesis and orogenesis, leaving valuable minerals as part of the solution residue. Elevated concentrations are to be expected towards the basins and limbs of folds.

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Résumé Les phénomènes de dissolution par pression inégale ne sont pas limités aux contacts stylolithiques. La plupart des surfaces de dissolution par pression linéaire est lisse et sans caractères particuliers. En l'absence de stylolithisation, les résidus sont considérés souvent à tort comme des sédiments primaires.Le matériel dissous par pression linéaire migre du centre des bassins vers ses bords; cela conduit à un accroissement des dépÔts chimiques et organiques sur les seuils. Le matériel insoluble se concentre passivement au centre des bassins.Les différences entre horizons lithologiques voisins dans les séries stratigraphiques sont accentuées pendant la diagénèse par l'activité de dissolution par pression inégale. Il peut se former des alternances ou des horizons relativement »purs«, presque monominéraux (calcite, dolomite, quartz), qui ne sont pas touchés par la dissolution par pression inégale, tandis que des couches moins »pures« en raison de la présence en particulier de minéraux argileux, peuvent Être réduites à des résidus de dissolution.L'activité persistante de la dissolution par pression linéaire au cours du plissement et de la schistosité entraÎne une nouvelle diminution de matière dans la roche.Ce sont surtout les gisements synsédimentaires qui peuvent subir un enrichissement supplémentaire pendant la diagénèse et l'orogénèse, puisque ce sont les minéraux de valeur qui s'accumulent dans les résidus de dissolution. Ces enrichissements peuvent Être particulièrement renforcés en direction du centre des bassins et des flancs des plis.

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Numerical modeling of fracking fluid migration through fault zones and fractures in the North German Basin

Gas production from shale formations by hydraulic fracturing has raised concerns about the effects on the quality of fresh groundwater. The migration of injected fracking fluids towards the surface was investigated in the North German Basin, based on the known standard lithology. This included cases with natural preferential pathways such as permeable fault zones and fracture networks. Conservative assumptions were applied in the simulation of flow and mass transport triggered by a high pressure boundary of up to 50 MPa excess pressure. The results show no significant fluid migration for a case with undisturbed cap rocks and a maximum of 41 m vertical transport within a permeable fault zone during the pressurization. Open fractures, if present, strongly control the flow field and migration; here vertical transport of fracking fluids reaches up to 200 m during hydraulic fracturing simulation. Long-term transport of the injected water was simulated for 300 years. The fracking fluid rises vertically within the fault zone up to 485 m due to buoyancy. Progressively, it is transported horizontally into sandstone layers, following the natural groundwater flow direction. In the long-term, the injected fluids are diluted to minor concentrations. Despite the presence of permeable pathways, the injected fracking fluids in the reported model did not reach near-surface aquifers, either during the hydraulic fracturing or in the long term. Therefore, the probability of impacts on shallow groundwater by the rise of fracking fluids from a deep shale-gas formation through the geological underground to the surface is small.     

Palaeovariations in the East-Asian Monsoon Regime Geochemically Recorded in Varved Sediments of Lake Sihailongwan (Northeast China, Jilin Province). Part 1: Hydrological Conditions and Dust Flux

The varved sediments of the dimictic Lake Sihailongwan (Long Gang mountain area, Jilin Province, Northeast China) represent a palaeoclimatic archive which documents the local precipitation frequency during the summer monsoon, and variations in the aeolian flux of dust with their remote sources in the arid and semi-arid regions of inner Asia. Based on a detailed discussion of sediment genesis in Lake SHL, dust flux rates and palaeohydrological conditions were reconstructed on a decadal scale over the past 220 years. The aeolian influx by dry and wet deposition was quantified and characterised in its chemical composition. Photosynthetic production in the lake is positively correlated with the inflow of nutrient-rich groundwater. The groundwater discharge largely reflects the strength of the summer monsoon. Net accumulation rates for biogenic silica were determined for annually laminated sediments from the centre of the U-shaped lake basin based on sediment data. In a Si-balance model of the modern lake, the depositional flux of biogenic silica could be independently quantified on the base of hydrochemical monitoring data. Comparison of the both estimates allowed to asses the focussing of the particle flux in the lake. Though water retention in Lake SHL is rather high (ca. 30 years), changes in the hydrological conditions are sensitively recorded in the sediments because (i) nutrient-rich groundwater discharges into the productive zone of the lake, (ii) a substantial proportion of the total dissolved Si-inventory of the mixed lake (ca. 30%) is annually consumed by diatom growth, and (3) sediment accumulation is substantially focussed towards the flat bottom of the lake basin. The bulk siliciclastic sediment fraction (ca. 75 wt.%) largely originates from influx of dust of remote provenance. In sediment thin-sections, the dry-deposited dust fraction is microscopically identifiable as seasonal silt layer. Aeolian input by wet-deposition shows a distinctly higher variability than the influx of dust by dry-deposition. As diatom production, wet-deposition of dust is positively correlated with the rainfall during the summer monsoon. The inferred positive correlation between rainfall and dust flux during the summer monsoon implies that dust deposition is determined by the out-wash efficiency of mineral particles for a permanent high atmospheric dust concentration over Northeast China in the last 220 years.