Surface area, porosity and water adsorption properties of fine volcanic ash particles

Our understanding on how ash particles in volcanic plumes react with coexisting gases and aerosols is still rudimentary, despite the importance of these reactions in influencing the chemistry and dynamics of a plume. In this study, six samples of fine ash (<100 m) from different volcanoes were measured for their specific surface area, a_s, porosity and water adsorption properties with the aim to provide insights into the capacity of silicate ash particles to react with gases, including water vapour. To do so, we performed high-resolution nitrogen and water vapour adsorption/desorption experiments at 77 K and 303 K, respectively. The nitrogen data indicated a_s values in the range 1.1–2.1 m²/g, except in one case where a a_s of 10 m²/g was measured. This high value is attributed to incorporation of hydrothermal phases, such as clay minerals, in the ash surface composition. The data also revealed that the ash samples are essentially non-porous, or have a porosity dominated by macropores with widths >500 Å. All the specimens had similar pore size distributions, with a small peak centered around 50 Å. These findings suggest that fine ash particles have relatively undifferentiated surface textures, irrespective of the chemical composition and eruption type. Adsorption isotherms for water vapour revealed that the capacity of the ash samples for water adsorption is systematically larger than predicted from the nitrogen adsorption a_s values. Enhanced reactivity of the ash surface towards water may result from (i) hydration of bulk ash constituents; (ii) hydration of surface compounds; and/or (iii) hydroxylation of the surface of the ash. The later mechanism may lead to irreversible retention of water. Based on these experiments, we predict that volcanic ash is covered by a complete monolayer of water under ambient atmospheric conditions. In addition, capillary condensation within ash pores should allow for deposition of condensed water on to ash particles before water reaches saturation in the plume. The total mass of water vapour retained by 1 g of fine ash at 0.95 relative water vapour pressure is calculated to be ~10^–2 g. Some volcanic implications of this study are discussed.Editorial responsibility: J. Gilbert     

Determination of Porosity and Permeability out of Dispersion Analyses of Borehole Wall Displacements

Waves carried in the borehole can be measured by the use of controlled sources inside the borehole and receivers located in the same borehole as well. This article gives the theoretical background and develops a new method to determine rock-physical parameters out of such controlled measurements of waves carried inside the borehole. Theoretical dispersion curves of the group velocities are matched to dispersion analyses of registrations obtained in the borehole. This inversion process intends to determine the in situ porosity and permeability of the rock.     

Reconstruction of a flash flood with large wood transport and its influence on hazard patterns in an ungauged mountain basin

The reconstruction of past flash floods in ungauged basins leads to a high level of uncertainty, which increases if other processes are involved such as the transport of large wood material. An important flash flood occurred in 1997 in Venero Claro (Central Spain), causing significant economic losses. The wood material clogged bridge sections, raising the water level upstream. The aim of this study was to reconstruct this event, analysing the influence of woody debris transport on the flood hazard pattern. Because the reach in question was affected by backwater effects due to bridge clogging, using only high water mark or palaeostage indicators may overestimate discharges, and so other methods are required to estimate peak flows. Therefore, the peak discharge was estimated (123 ± 18 m³ s^–1) using indirect methods, but one‐dimensional hydraulic simulation was also used to validate these indirect estimates through an iterative process (127 ± 33 m³ s^–1) and reconstruct the bridge obstruction to obtain the blockage ratio during the 1997 event (~48%) and the bridge clogging curves. Rainfall–Runoff modelling with stochastic simulation of different rainfall field configurations also helped to confirm that a peak discharge greater than 150 m³ s^–1 is very unlikely to occur and that the estimated discharge range is consistent with the estimated rainfall amount (233 ± 27 mm). It was observed that the backwater effect due to the obstruction (water level ~7 m) made the 1997 flood (~35‐year return period) equivalent to the 50‐year flood. This allowed the equivalent return period to be defined as the recurrence interval of an event of specified magnitude, which, where large woody debris is present, is equivalent in water depth and extent of flooded area to a more extreme event of greater magnitude. These results highlight the need to include obstruction phenomena in flood hazard analysis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crack damage stress as a composite function of porosity and elastic matrix stiffness in dolomites and limestones

Twenty-five uniaxial compression tests were performed to determine stress at onset of dilation, referred to herein as “the crack damage stress,” in heterogeneous dolomites and limestones. A simplified model for crack damage stress (σ_cd) is developed here using porosity, elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio and three empirical coefficients. The model shows that when porosity decreases and elastic modulus increases, σ_cd rapidly increases and approaches its maximum value. On the other hand, when porosity increases and elastic modulus decreases, σ_cd rapidly decreases and approaches its minimum value. The proposed model is validated for six heterogeneous limestone and dolomite formations which are widely distributed in Israel.     

Mechanical compaction and ultrasonic velocity of sands with different texture and mineralogical composition

This study presents the results of experimental compaction while measuring ultrasonic velocities of sands with different grain size, shape, sorting and mineralogy. Uniaxial mechanical compaction tests up to a maximum of 50 MPa effective stress were performed on 29 dry sand aggregates derived from eight different sands to measure the rock properties. A good agreement was found between the Gassmann saturated bulk moduli of dry and brine saturated tests of selected sands. Sand samples with poor sorting showed low initial porosity while sands with high grain angularity had high initial porosity. The sand compaction tests showed that at a given stress well‐sorted, coarse‐grained sands were more compressible and had higher velocities (Vp and Vs) than fine‐grained sands when the mineralogy was similar. This can be attributed to grain crushing, where coarser grains lead to high compressibility and large grain‐to‐grain contact areas result in high velocities. At medium to high stresses the angular coarse to medium grained sands (both sorted sands and un‐sorted whole sands) showed high compaction and velocities (Vp and Vs). The small grain‐to‐grain contact areas promote higher deformation at grain contacts, more crushing and increased porosity loss resulting in high velocities. Compaction and velocities (Vp and Vs) increased with decreasing sorting in sands. However, at the same porosity, the velocities in whole sands were slightly lower than in the well‐sorted sands indicating the presence of loose smaller grains in‐between the framework grains. Quartz‐poor sands (containing less than 55% quartz) showed higher velocities (Vp and Vs) compared to that of quartz‐rich sands. This could be the result of sintering and enlargement of grain contacts of ductile mineral grains in the quartz‐poor sands increasing the effective bulk and shear stiffness. Tests both from wet measurements and Gassmann brine substitution showed a decreasing Vp/Vs ratio with increasing effective stress. The quartz‐rich sands separated out towards the higher side of the Vp/Vs range. The Gassmann brine substituted Vp and Vs plotted against effective stress provide a measure of the expected velocity range to be found in these and similar sands during mechanical compaction. Deviations of actual well log data from experimental data may indicate uplift, the presence of hydrocarbon, overpressure and/or cementation. Data from this study may help to model velocity‐depth trends and to improve the characterization of reservoir sands from well log data in a low temperature (<80–100^o C) zone where compaction of sands is mostly mechanical.     

用地震资料预测孔隙度的广义协克里格法

在Doyen工作的基础上,本文对简单协克里格法作了一些改进,提出了用地震资料预测孔隙度的广义协克里格法,详细推导证明了其基本公式.并分别用3种方法预测了松辽盆地宋站地区扶余油层含气砂岩储层的孔隙度分布.井孔处的交互检验证明,广义协克里格法比线性回归法和简单协克里格法预测孔隙度的均方根误差分别小40％和30％以上.     

Characterization of juvenile pyroclasts from the Kos Plateau Tuff (Aegean Arc): insights into the eruptive dynamics of a large rhyolitic eruption

Silicic pumices formed during explosive volcanic eruptions are faithful recorders of the state of the magma in the conduit, close to or at the fragmentation level. We have characterized four types of pumices from the non-welded rhyolitic Kos Plateau Tuff, which erupted 161,000 years ago in the East Aegean Arc, Greece. The dominant type of pumice (>90 vol.%) shows highly elongated tubular vesicles. These tube pumices occur throughout the eruption. Less common pumice types include: (1) “frothy” pumice (highly porous with large, sub-rounded vesicles), which form 5–10 vol.% of the coarsest pyroclastic flow deposits, (2) dominantly “microvesicular” and systematically crystal-poor pumices, which are found in early erupted, fine-grained pyroclastic flow units, and are characterized by many small (<50 μm in diameter) vesicles and few mm-sized, irregular voids, (3) grey or banded pumices, indicating the interaction between the rhyolite and a more mafic magma, which are found throughout the eruption sequence and display highly irregular bubble shapes. Except for the grey-banded pumices, all three other types are compositionally identical and were generated synchronously as they are found in the same pyroclastic units. They, therefore, record different conditions in the volcanic conduit leading to variable bubble nucleation, growth and coalescence. A total of 74 pumice samples have been characterized using thin section observation, SEM imagery, porosimetry, and permeametry. We show that the four pumice types have distinct total and connected porosity, tortuosity and permeability. Grey-banded pumices show large variations in petrophysical characteristics as a response to mingling of two different magmas. The microvesicular, crystal-poor, pumices have a bimodal bubble size distribution, interpreted as reflecting an early heterogeneous bubble nucleation event followed by homogeneous bubble nucleation close to fragmentation. Finally, the significant differences in porosity, tortuosity and permeability in compositionally identical tube and frothy pumices are the result of variable shear rates in different parts of the conduit. Differential shear rates may be the result of either: (1) pure shear, inducing a vertical progression from frothy to tube and implying a relatively thick fragmentation zone to produce both types of pumices at the same time or (2) localized simple shear, inducing strongly tubular vesicles along the wall and near-spherical bubbles in the centre of the conduit and not necessarily requiring a thick fragmentation zone.     

根据波速-压力关系评价岩石岩性、物性的实验研究

本文在实验室里对老爷庙油田馆陶组（Ng）油气贮层砂岩岩芯的孔隙度φ、空气渗透率κ、骨架密度ρ_ma、岩石密度ρ_b和不同有效覆盖压力△P下岩芯的声波时差△t,做了精确测量,用回归分析拟合了φ-K、φ-ρ_b、φ-△t和V-△p（△t-△p）的经验关系式;保持原始孔隙结构不变的前提下,在岩芯饱和各种矿化度的孔隙流体时测定了声波时差△t与孔隙度φ的关系.研究结果表明,当贮层的φ-K、φ-ρ_b和φ-△t相关时,可用声波时差△t或波速V解释贮层的岩性,并可反演求出贮层的φ、K和ρ_b;地层有效覆盖压力对贮层的孔隙度和波速具有明显的影响.根据V-△p曲线的变化规律,可以评价贮层的岩性和埋藏地质体的油、气储集能力.这些结果对油田地震勘探和石油测井资料的解释具有重要的参考价值,并为预测储油有利地区和评价贮层提供了一种新的途径.     

中上扬子海相层系埋藏史与构造运动的关系

依据复杂岩性条件下孔隙度—深度关系模型,采用回剥法重建埋藏史。结果表明,中上扬子地区的埋藏史可分为3种主要类型：早抬持续型、早抬再降型和晚抬持续型。埋藏史的类型受区域构造运动控制,具有明显的分带性。齐岳山断裂以西为晚抬持续型,齐岳山断裂与黄陵隆起之间为早抬持续型,黄陵隆起以东为早抬再降型。印支运动在中上扬子地区只对海相层系有一次短暂抬升剥蚀,剥蚀量小,对埋藏史特征影响不大。燕山运动表现形式、作用强度、对海相层系的改造程度均存在明显的地区差异性,导致海相层系埋藏史类型也有地区差异性。喜马拉雅运动波及整个中国南方,但岩石圈受力性质不同,表现为西挤东张,导致K2—E期间黄陵隆起以西持续抬升,形成“持续抬升型”埋藏史类型,以东则发生拉张断陷,形成“再降型”埋藏史类型。