The alluvial architecture of a suspended sediment dominated meandering river: the Río Bermejo,Argentina

The alluvial architecture of fine‐grained (silt‐bed) meandering rivers remains poorly understood in comparison to the extensive study given to sand‐bed and gravel‐bed channels. This paucity of knowledge stems, in part, from the difficulty of studying such modern rivers and deriving analogue information from which to inform facies models for ancient sediments. This paper employs a new technique, the parametric echosounder, to quantify the subsurface structure of the Río Bermejo, Argentina, which is a predominantly silt‐bed river with a large suspended sediment load. These results show that the parametric echosounder can provide high‐resolution (decimetre) subsurface imaging from fine‐grained rivers that is equivalent to the more commonly used ground‐penetrating radar that has been shown to work well in coarser‐grained rivers. Analysis of the data reveals that the alluvial architecture of the Río Bermejo is characterized by large‐scale inclined heterolithic stratification generated by point‐bar evolution, and associated large‐scale scour surfaces that result from channel migration. The small‐scale and medium‐scale structure of the sedimentary architecture is generated by vertical accretion deposits, bed sets associated with small bars, dunes and climbing ripples and the cut and fill from small cross‐bar channels. This style of alluvial architecture is very different from other modern fine‐grained rivers reported in the literature that emphasize the presence of oblique accretion. The Río Bermejo differs from these other rivers because it is much more active, with very high rates of bank erosion and channel migration. Modern examples of this type of highly active fine‐grained river have been reported rarely in the literature, although ancient examples are more prevalent and show similarities with the alluvial architecture of the Río Bermejo, which thus represents a useful analogue for their identification and interpretation. Although the full spectrum of the sedimentology of fine‐grained rivers has yet to be revealed, meandering rivers dominated by lateral or oblique accretion probably represent end members of such channels, with the specific style of sedimentation being controlled by grain size and sediment load characteristics.     

Spatial variation of overbank aggradation rate and its influence on avulsion frequency

Abstract River avulsions are commonly considered to be driven by the aggradation and growth of alluvial ridges, and the associated increase in cross‐valley slope relative to either the down‐channel slope or the down‐valley slope (the latter is termed the slope ratio in the present paper). Therefore, spatial patterns of overbank aggradation rate over stratigraphically relevant time scales are critical in avulsion‐dominated models of alluvial architecture. Detailed evidence on centennial‐ to millennial‐scale floodplain deposition has, to date, been largely unavailable. New data on such long‐term overbank aggradation rates from the Rhine–Meuse and Mississippi deltas demonstrate that the rate of decrease of overbank deposition away from the channel belt is much larger than has been supposed hitherto, and can be similar to observations for single overbank floods. This leads to more rapid growth of alluvial ridges and more rapid increase in slope ratios, potentially resulting in increased avulsion frequencies. A revised input parameter for overbank aggradation rate was used in a three‐dimensional model of alluvial architecture to study its effect on avulsion frequency. Realistic patterns of avulsion and interavulsion periods (≈1000 years) were simulated with input data from the Holocene Rhine River, with avulsions occurring when the slope ratio is in the range 3–5. However, caution should be practised with respect to uncritical use of these numbers in different settings. Evidence from the two study areas suggests that the avulsion threshold cannot be represented by one single value, irrespective of whether critical slope ratios are used, as in the present study, or superelevation as has been proposed by other investigators.     

浅水三角洲物源、砂体构型与储层特征研究——以准噶尔盆地永进—莫西庄地区侏罗系三工河组二段为例

针对准噶尔盆地腹部侏罗系三工河组物源、砂体构型及储层物性认识存在争议的问题,笔者等基于岩芯、录井、钻井等方面的资料,结合前人在准噶尔盆地周缘磷灰石及锆石年龄数据,运用沉积学、层序地层学、沉积盆地分析及储层沉积学的基本原理和方法对三工河组二段物源方向、远近和类型、沉积体系展布、砂体构型及储层物性之间的关系进行了系统的研究。研究表明,在敞流盆地快速抬升/缓慢沉降的构造背景下形成辫状河三角洲退积式沉积序列,在五级层序地层格架中,河道强冲刷叠置砂体见于第1、2砂组,三角洲退积,分支河道强烈冲刷,导致河道砂体叠置,微相类型单一,单砂体厚度向上变薄,砂体全区稳定分布,储集性较好。河道弱冲刷叠置砂体见于第3、5砂组,三角洲退积,分支河道冲刷不明显,形成河道“二元结构”,单砂体厚度向上变薄,粒度变细,储集性好;河口坝组合砂体见于第4砂组,在三角洲退积过程中,水下分流河道末端形成河口坝,总体岩性向上变细,砂体不连续,储集性好,远砂坝席状砂组合砂体见于第6、7砂组,砂体零星分布,储集性很差。在浅水、低可容纳空间、快速抬升/缓慢幕式沉降构造背景之下,浅水三角洲的物源的方向、远近及类型是影响沉积微相展布的关键因素,也是影响砂体构型及其储层物性的物质基础。     

基于复用的软件构架评估方法及其在嫦娥工程中的应用

针对目前软件构架评估方法未考虑复用构架评估知识的局限性, 提出一种新的、基于构架评估知识复用的软件构架评估模式(包括软件构架评估方法元模型和应用框架).运用一致的评估元模型, 建立高层模型, 辅助构架评估决策; 并在应用框架支持下, 系统地复用评估历史数据, 将SAEM的活动整合为一个系统的、可复用的、可管理的过程.该方法已成功应用于中国探月工程地面应用系统的软件构架评估, 降低了深空探测航天复杂系统的研制风险.      

Food with a visible face: Traceability and the public promotion of private governance in the Japanese food system

The years since 2000 have seen a constant stream of high-profile scandals relating to food safety and food labeling in Japan. One response of Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has been to promote food traceability as a mechanism to improve food safety and to provide reliable information to consumers about their food. MAFF’s main approach to traceability promotion, however, has not involved making traceability mandatory (as has been done in the EU) but encouraging private companies to adopt it. These actions constitute, I argue, an example of the public promotion of private governance. When viewed against the literature on the private governance of food safety and quality, MAFF’s traceability activities are surprising for three reasons: their forms and extent, the relative lack of interest the Ministry has shown in third-party certification, and the way MAFF has responded to concerns about the safety of imported food by focusing almost entirely on domestic traceability. I also argue, however, that looking at the literature from a Japanese perspective suggests that public encouragement is more central to the rise of private governance in the global agri-food system than is usually appreciated.     

High‐resolution stratigraphic architecture and lithological heterogeneity within marginal aeolian reservoir analogues

Marginal aeolian successions contain different lithological units with variable geometries, dimensions and spatial distributions. Such variations may result in considerable heterogeneity within hydrocarbon reservoirs developed in successions of this type, which poses a high risk to their efficient development. Here, such heterogeneity is described and characterized at inter‐well (<1 km) scales using two well‐exposed outcrop analogues of ‘end member’ marginal aeolian deposits from the Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone and Jurassic Page Sandstone of south‐central Utah, USA. The sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone was studied in a 1·2 km² area in the Indian Creek region of southern Utah, where the interval consists of interbedded fluvial and aeolian deposits representative of a fluvial‐dominated erg margin. The Page Sandstone was studied in a 4·3 km² area near Escalante, close to the Utah‐Arizona border, where it consists of interbedded sabkha and aeolian deposits representative of a transitional‐marine erg margin. The three‐dimensional stratigraphic architectures of both reservoir analogues have been characterized, in order to establish the dimensions, geometries and connectivity of high‐permeability aeolian sandstones. Facies architecture of the aeolian‐sabkha deposits is characterized by laterally continuous aeolian sandstone layers of relatively uniform thickness that alternate with layers of heterolithic sabkha deposits. Aeolian sandstones are thus likely to form vertically unconnected but laterally widespread flow units in analogous reservoirs. Facies architecture in the aeolian‐fluvial deposits is more complex, because it contains alternating intervals of aeolian sandstone and fluvial heterolithic strata, both of which may be laterally discontinuous at the studied length‐scales. Aeolian sandstones encased by fluvial heterolithic strata may form small, isolated flow units in analogous reservoirs, although the limited continuity of fluvial heterolithic strata results in vertical connectivity between successive aeolian sandstones in other locations. These architectural templates may be used to condition zonation schemes in models of marginal aeolian reservoirs.     

Planning and development regulation amid rapid urban growth: Explaining divergent trajectories in Africa

Why are urban plans, land use regulations and construction codes implemented effectively in some African states but not others? This constitutes an increasingly urgent development concern with major implications for the environment and the urban poor. Rather than being explained by economic factors, bureaucratic capacity or the nature of the urban policies and regulations in place, this paper argues that divergent outcomes are largely rooted in differing political bargaining environments. Comparing Uganda and Rwanda, it presents an empirical study that analyses contrasting planning and regulation trajectories in contexts of similarly low levels of socioeconomic development and soaring rates of urban growth. It argues that the divergent outcomes can be explained in relation to the political resources and incentives confronted by governing elites, which in Rwanda impel state actors to implement plans and regulations while in Uganda incentivize overriding them in the interests of political or economic gain. In highlighting political bargaining contexts and how these change over time, the paper illustrates the critical importance of historically informed city-level political economy analysis for understanding divergent urban development outcomes.     

开发尺度的曲流河储层内部结构地震沉积学解释方法

曲流河地层内部结构复杂,岩性界面具有穿时性,传统的地震相分析法不能满足油藏开发地质研究中对储层内部结构精细解释的需要,急需探索有效的地震解释方法。采用基于探地雷达的露头探测、点坝复合体三维正演模拟和实际地震资料相结合的方法,分析了地震资料频率和地层厚度对曲流河内部结构地震反射特征的影响,研究了利用地层切片解释曲流河沉积结构的原理和方法,建立了开发尺度的曲流河内部结构地震沉积学解释技术。研究发现:(1)高频地震资料中地震反射能够反映曲流河侧积复合体边界,而低频地震资料中反射同相轴与岩性界面一致;(2)不同厚度的点坝侧积单元地震反射特征存在差异,造成反射剖面的多解性。同时指出曲流河内部结构地震沉积学解释的技术关键:(1)发挥地震资料平面与剖面信息的相互约束和补充;(2)将地质体作为三维空间发育的成因体,利用其平面与剖面特征的成因联系指导解释;(3)级次化解释方法,在不同级次上采用针对性的解释方法。将该方法应用于墨西哥湾新近系地震沉积学解释,实现了曲流河点坝复合体内部结构的三维刻画。     

长春岭油田C107区块扶余油层密井网曲流河储层构型分析

以长春岭油田C107区块扶余油层为例,综合应用岩心、录井、动态及测试等资料,按层次分析的思路对曲流河储层进行了构型分析。在井上单河道砂体识别的基础上,采用相控对比方法进行了单河道砂体的井间对比。基于现代沉积,提出了"S"型、同向式、背向式和切割式4类点坝砂体的组合模式,结合点坝砂体厚度特征以及与其紧邻废弃河道分布特征,在研究区识别出8个点坝砂体,单个点坝砂体面积在0.02～0.16km2。综合录井、岩心和测井等资料,在单井侧积层识别的基础上,结合对子井分析法,计算出侧积层的倾角为5°左右,侧积体的宽度为25～70m,建立了点坝砂体内部构型定量模式。应用曲流河构型分析成果,指导了热采动态分析。     

湖南省岳家桥典型岩溶发育区电性特征及构造格架研究

为探讨湖南省益阳市岳家桥地质灾害现状,以区内典型岩溶发育区为研究对象,通过长剖面高密度电法、视电阻率联合剖面法等地球物理方法,研究了地层电性响应特点,利用钻孔数据和综合电法勘探数据建立了三维地层结构模型,揭示了典型区域近地表电性结构形态,构建了区内三维地层构造格架,圈定了岩溶发育范围,并评价了地质灾害程度.研究表明:因地制宜地利用综合电法勘探,有助于在我国南方含水较多的岩溶发育区快速、有效地进行灾害范围的圈定和评价.