Discovery of anomalous gallium enriched in stone coal: Significance,provenance and recommendations

Gallium (Ga) is a critical mineral that plays an irreplaceable role in consumer electronics, clean energy technologies and the aerospace industry. Nowadays competition for gallium resources at the national strategic level has begun to emerge, but gallium resources are unevenly distributed globally, and their presence is not guaranteed. New discoveries revealed an average gallium concentration of thirty-one samples from M₁, M₂, M₃ and M₄ stone coal-bearing seams of the Cambrian strata on South Qinling Orogenic Belt in central China is 157 mg/kg (9.98–747 mg/kg), which is 27.6-fold higher than the global hard coal average, as well as the existing association of Mo–V–U–Cd–Zn–Ba–Se–Mg–Ni–Cu enrichment. Ga average of these coal seams are 344 mg/kg (M₃, 44.5–747 mg/kg, n = 11), 270 mg/kg (M₄, 14.3–270 mg/kg, n = 5), 53.8 mg/kg (M₂, 22.6–75.4 mg/kg, n = 8) and 19.8 mg/kg (M₁, 9.98–34.9 mg/kg, n = 7) respectively, as well as the thickness of approximately 6, 12, 8, and 20 m, which be close to or exceed to the boundary grade standard (30 mg/kg) and minimum recoverable thickness (0.7 m) of gallium resources exploration. These findings indicate that the Cambrian stone coal deposits, especially in the middle and late Cambrian period, should be considered as promising alternative sources of gallium. The anomalous gallium-enriched sediments originated from a complex combination of hydrothermal fluids, original biomass and terrigenous materials. For the M₁ stone coal-bearing seams, gallium most likely occurred in the mode of GaAs, Ga_xIn_1-xAs and GaO(OH), while modes of gallium in the M₂ to M₄ seams is interrelated with the organic affinity and clay minerals. The crude reserve estimate of gallium resources in central China is approximately 10.06 × 10⁴ tons, corresponding to a super-large coal-hosted gallium ore deposit. The unique paleogeographic location and geological structure in central China resulted that this newly discovered deposit is a unique type of gallium-enriched deposit that has been discovered worldwide. These discoveries will provide the critical parameters when developing distinctive beneficiation processes and appropriate extraction procedures, as well as guidance and effective for future prospecting regions of gallium resources around the globe, involving a combination consider the distribution of regional deep–large fault zones and the middle to late Cambrian black rock series deposits.     

膨胀土临界状态强度特性及其模型拟合

针对蒙自地区膨胀土,进行了饱和重塑条件下的固结排水(CD)与固结不排水(CU)试验,系统研究了饱和土在不同固结围压3、初始干密度d、初始含水量0、剪切速率、排水条件下的应力应变特性。通过对临界状态试验结果的归一化处理,揭示了不同试验方法对同一土样抗剪强度量测差异的内在统一性,得到了重塑饱和膨胀土在固结排水与不排水条件下p'-q-空间内的破坏线。利用双曲线模型较好地拟合了弱硬化型应力应变曲线,用指数曲线模型拟合了弱软化型应力应变曲线,为模拟边坡在降雨条件下的抗剪强度变化及构筑物土体处于正常水位时的强度状态等工况提供了技术参数与理论支持。     

常州地区含水层渗透系数与特征粒径的相关性研究

渗透系数受到土层颗粒级配的影响。基于常州地区第5层粉土粉砂层渗透系数及特征粒径实测数据,建立土层渗透系数K与特征粒径之间的关系式。结果显示,该含水层渗透系数与土层等效控制粒径d60之间的关系式相关性高,对该含水层渗透系数的确定具有参考意义。     

Methodological frameworks for the geography of organizations

In this paper, we present three methodological frameworks for the geographic study of organizations. These are situated within three meta-theoretical perspectives in human geography: spatial science, critical realism, and post-structuralism. Each framework offers a different theorization of organizations, and each prompts different research questions that can be used to guide their geographic study. The research questions we offer are general, and are pertinent to all types of organizations. To supplement the methodological contributions of this paper, we suggest how each of these frameworks might inform empirical investigations of Appalshop, a media arts organization located in Whitesburg, Kentucky.     

Study of pore pressure variation during liquefaction using two constitutive models for sand

Numerical analyses of liquefiable sand are presented in this paper. Liquefaction phenomenon is an undrained response of saturated sandy soils when they are subjected to static or dynamic loads. A fully coupled dynamic computer code is developed to predict the liquefaction potential of a saturated sandy layer. Coupled dynamic field equations of extended Biot's theory with u–P formulation are used to determine the responses of pore fluid and soil skeleton. Generalized Newmark method is employed for integration in time. The soil behavior is modelled by two constitutive models; a critical state two-surface plasticity model, and a densification model. A class ‘B’ analysis of a centrifuge experiment is performed to simulate the dynamic response of level ground sites. The results of the numerical analyses demonstrate the capability of the critical sate two-surface plasticity model in producing pore pressures that are consistent with observations of the behavior of liquefiable sand in the centrifuge test.     

Implementation of state-dependent plasticity model in strain wedge model for laterally loaded piles in sand

ABSTRACT

The strain wedge model effectively performs nonlinear analyses of the lateral response of piles by using a nonlinear stress-strain relationship to describe soil behavior in the strain wedge. In this study, a state-dependent plasticity model has been implemented in the strain wedge model to calculate the stress-strain relationship for sand in the strain wedge. To complement this implementation, the effect of dilatancy on the shear strain is considered in the strain wedge. A full-scale test and a 45 g centrifuge model test on laterally loaded piles are used to validate the proposed method. The results show that the deflections and moments predicted by the proposed method accord well with those measured from full-scale and centrifugal model pile tests. Moreover, the combination of the state-dependent plasticity model and the strain wedge model allows for analyzing the lateral response of single piles using a unique set of model parameters for different relative densities of sands. In addtion, the stress-strain response in the strain wedge, not the dilatancy, dominates the soil resistance in the strain wedge and thus the lateral response of piles.     

Quantifying effects of deep and near‐surface chemical erosion on cosmogenic nuclides in soils,saprolite, and sediment

Cosmogenic nuclides in rock, soil, and sediment are routinely used to measure denudation rates of catchments and hillslopes. Although it has been shown that these measurements are prone to biases due to chemical erosion in regolith, most studies of cosmogenic nuclides have ignored this potential source of error. Here we quantify the extent to which overlooking effects of chemical erosion introduces bias in interpreting denudation rates from cosmogenic nuclides. We consider two end‐member effects: one due to weathering near the surface and the other due to weathering at depth. Near the surface, chemical erosion influences nuclide concentrations in host minerals by enriching (or depleting) them relative to other more (or less) soluble minerals. This increases (or decreases) their residence times relative to the regolith as a whole. At depth, where minerals are shielded from cosmic radiation, chemical erosion causes denudation without influencing cosmogenic nuclide buildup. If this effect is ignored, denudation rates inferred from cosmogenic nuclides will be too low. We derive a general expression, termed the ‘chemical erosion factor’, or CEF, which corrects for biases introduced by both deep and near‐surface chemical erosion in regolith. The CEF differs from the ‘quartz enrichment factor’ of previous work in that it can also be applied to relatively soluble minerals, such as olivine. Using data from diverse climatic settings, we calculate CEFs ranging from 1.03 to 1.87 for cosmogenic nuclides in quartz. This implies that ignoring chemical erosion can lead to errors of close to 100% in intensely weathered regolith. CEF is strongly correlated with mean annual precipitation across our sites, reflecting climatic influence on chemical weathering. Our results indicate that quantifying CEFs is crucial in cosmogenic nuclide studies of landscapes where chemical erosion accounts for a significant fraction of the overall denudation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling of turbidity dynamics caused by wind-induced waves and current in the Taihu Lake

A simple turbidity model was developed with a sound physical basis based on in situ high-frequency observations of short-term, strong wind-induced sediment suspension in Taihu Lake, China. The validation results show that the model could successfully simulate turbidity caused by strong wind events, despite the relatively poor simulation accuracy for high values of turbidity caused by the entrainment of cyanobacteria by turbulence. The in situ observations and model simulation results indicate that the wind waves were within a narrow spectral band, with spectral energy mainly distributed within the 0.28–0.75 Hz band on opposite sides of the peak frequency. These high-frequency and low-energy wind waves are sensitive to depth filtering. However, the average depth of the lake is only 1.9 m, and wind waves still represent the main force of sediment suspension at the sediment-water interface. Moreover, lake currents were of significance to the maintenance of background turbidity in calm waves or ripples and in the determination of critical shear stress. By considering the spatial distribution of hydrodynamics and sediment, the model can be used to simulate the turbidity of the entire lake as well as boundary conditions for three-dimensional numerical models.     

新疆2次中强地震前的临界慢化现象研究

以2011年尼勒克、巩留交界6．0级和新源、和静交界6．6级地震为例,研究了2次地震前周边的形变和流体资料临界慢化现象。首先,用小波变换方法对观测资料进行了预处理,然后计算了临界慢化现象的预警指标,方差和自相关系数,进而总结了2次6级地震发生前观测资料的临界慢化现象特征。结果表明,2次6级地震前出现了临界慢化现象。     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112000096

According to the metallogenic theory by transmagmatic fluid(TMF).one magmalic intrusion is a channel of ore-bearing fluids,but not their source.Therefore,it is possible to use TMF’s ability for injection into and for escaping from the magmatic intrusion to evaluate its ore-forming potential.As the ore-bearing fluids cannot effectively inject into the magmatic intrusion when the magma fully crystallized, the cooling time and rates viscosity varied can be used to estimate the minimum critical thickness of the intrusion.One dimensional heat transfer model is used to determine the cooling time for three representative dikes of different composition(granite porphyry,quartz diorite and diabase) in the Shihu gold deposit.It also estimated the rates viscosity varied in these lime interval.We took the thickness of dike at the intersection of the cooling time—thickness curve and the rates viscosity varied versus thickness curve as the minimum critical thickness.For the ore-bearing fluids effectively injecting into the magma,the minimum critical thicknesses for the three representative dikes are 33.45 m for granite porphyry,8.22 m for quartz diorite and 1.02 m for diabase,indicating that ore-bearing dikes must be thicker than each value.These results are consistent with the occurrence of ore bodies,and thus they could be applied in practice.Based on the statistical relationship between the length and the width of dikes.these critical thicknesses are used to compute critical areas:0.0003—0.0016 km~2 for diabase. 0.014—0.068 km~2 for quartz diorite and 0.011—0.034 km~2 for granite porphyry.This implies that orebearing minor intrusions have varied areas corresponding to their composition.The numerical simulation has provided the theoretical threshold of exposed thickness and area of the ore-bearing intrusion.These values can be used to determine the ore-forming potentials of dikes.