Heat-flow regimes and the hydrate stability zone of a transient,thermogenic, fault-controlled hydrate system (Woolsey Mound northern Gulf of Mexico)

This study aims to constrain the base of the hydrates stability field in structurally complexsites using the case of Woolsey Mound, a fault-controlled, transient, thermogenic hydrates system, in Mississippi Canyon Block 118, northern Gulf of Mexico. We have computed the base of the hydrates stability field integrating results from a recent heat-flow survey, designed to investigate geothermal anomalies along fault zones which exhibit different fluid flux regimes. An advanced “compositional” simulator was used to model hydrate formation and dissociation at Woolsey Mound and addresses the following hypotheses:

• 1.Migrating thermogenic fluids alter thermal conditions of the Hydrate Stability Zone (HSZ), so heat-flow reflects fault activity;
• 2.Gas hydrate formation and dissociation vary temporally at active faults, temporarily sealing conduits for migration of thermogenic fluids;
• 3.High salinity and inclusion of thermogenic gases with higher molecular weight than methane produce opposite effects on the depth to the bottom of the hydrate stability zone.

Applications of results include identifying and quantifying hydrate deposits in shallow sediments using an interdisciplinary approach that includes multiple resolution seismic data evaluation, geological and geochemical groundtruthing and heat-flow analyses as a proxy for activity along faults.     

天然气水合物地热场分布特征

天然气水合物广泛分布于海底和永久冻土带。通过统计世界上已发现水合物或水合物标志的地区的热参数值,发现水合物分布区具有低热流的特征;由于水合物本身的低热导率特性,导致水合物分布区的热导率值较低;含水合物的沉积物由于水合物的分解,岩心温度也较低。通过研究南海的热场特征,发现南海的吕宋海槽、西沙海槽附近、湄公盆地和台西南盆地几个地区热流较低,可能是有利的水合物远景区。     

钻孔单位涌水量换算的理论与实践

单位涌水量是评价煤矿区含水层富水性强弱和划分矿井水文地质类型的重要指标之一。分析了单位涌水量换算的意义及煤矿钻孔实际抽水资料,研究了具有三次降深、二次降深及一次降深资料单位涌水量换算的方法,结合某煤矿的实际抽水资料进行了验证,计算结果符合该煤矿区含水层富水性的实际情况。     

南岭西段金鸡岭复式花岗岩基地质及岩浆动力

对南岭西段金鸡岭复式花岩岩基进行的Rb-Sr同位素定年研究，确定Ⅰ阶段黑云母二长花岗岩的等时线年龄为169．5MaⅡ、Ⅲ阶段黑云母花岗岩和二云母花岗岩为150．7Ma，其ISr值分别为0．7163和0．7206，表明该复式岩基属燕山早期。金鸡岭复式花岗岩基岩石属钙碱性系列，从Ⅰ阶段到Ⅱ、Ⅲ阶段表现出有规律的演化特征：岩石由准铝质（Ⅰ），演化为过铝质（Ⅱ）和强过铝质（Ⅲ）；钾长石有序度由0．33（Ⅰ），增高到0．69（Ⅱ）和0．80（Ⅲ）；斜长石油An37（Ⅰ）降低到An26（Ⅱ）和An7(Ⅲ)；黑云母由铁质黑云母（Ⅰ）向铁叶云母（Ⅱ）和铁白云母（Ⅲ）方向演化；氧化物（SiO2,Al2O3,TFeO,MgO,TiO2,CaO)-DI图解上呈良好的线性演化关系；成岩温度逐阶段降低，由745℃（Ⅰ）降低到673℃（Ⅱ）至505℃（Ⅲ）。采用地质地球化学方法估算出金鸡岭岩基的侵位深度约为6．3km，成岩压力为180MPa，具中深成相特征，属S型花岗岩并形成于华南板块内部的碰撞构造环境。     

江西冷水火山—侵入杂岩体岩石化学及地球化学特征

冷水银铅锌矿的火山—侵入杂岩体出露于信江中生代火山盆地南缘。岩石化学、微量元素、稀土元素和铷锶同位素分析表明冷水火山岩及次火山岩是同源产物,是同熔岩浆分异的结果。岩浆中成矿物质Cu、Fe、Pb、Zn、S、H_2O的数量与下地壳、上地慢或洋壳物质的部分熔融程度有关。冷水火山—侵入杂岩是钙碱性岩浆于不同演化阶段形成的岩石组合并具有化学成分上的相似性和继承性。岩浆房中具有良好的分带现象,上部为富钾的流纹质岩浆,向下逐渐变为基性岩浆。岩浆由钙碱性向偏碱性演化,促使成矿元素大量富集,在一定条件下形成矿床。     

Geochemistry of Apatite from the Apatite-rich Iron Deposits in the Ningwu Region, East Central China

Four types of apatite have been identified in the Ningwu region.The first type of apatite is widely distributed in the middle dark colored zones(i.e.iron ores) of individual deposits.The assemblage includes magnetite,apatite and actinolite(or diopside).The second type occurs within magnetite-apatite veins in the iron ores.The third type is seen in magnetite-apatite veins and (or) nodules in host rocks(i.e.gabbro-diorite porphyry or gabbro-diorite or pyroxene diorite).The fourth type occurs within apatite-pyrite-quartz veins filling fractures in the Xiangshan Group.Rare earth elements (REE) geochemistry of apatite of the four occurrences in porphyry iron deposits is presented.The REE distribution patterns of apatite are generally similar to those of apatites in the Kiruna-type iron ores,nelsonites.They are enriched in light REE,with pronounced negative Eu anomalies.The similarity of REE distribution patterns in apatites from various deposits in different locations in the world indicates a common process of formation for various ore types,e.g. immiscibility.Early magmatic apatites contain 3031.48-12080×10~(-6) REE.Later hydrothermal apatite contains 1958×10~(-6) REE,indicating that the later hydrothermal ore-forming solution contains lower REE.Although gabbro-diorite porphyry and apatite show similar REE patterns,gabbro-diorite porphyries have no europium anomalies or feeble positive or feeble negative europium anomalies, caused both by reduction environment of mantle source region and by fractionation and crystallization(immiscibility) under a high oxygen fugacity condition.Negative Eu anomalies of apatites were formed possibly due to acquisition of Eu~(2+) by earlier diopsite during ore magma cooling. The apatites in the Aoshan and Taishan iron deposits yield a narrow variation range of ~(87)Sr/~(86)Sr values from 0.7071 to 0.7073,similar to those of the volcanic and subvolcanic rocks,indicating that apatites were formed by liquid immiscibility and differentiation of intermediate and basic magmas.     

Slow gas expansion in saturated natural porous media by gas injection and partitioning with non-aqueous phase liquids

The partitioning of volatile non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) compounds to a discontinuous gas phase can result in the expansion of that gas phase, and the resulting gas flow can significantly affect the mass transfer from NAPL source zones. This recently reported gas flow generated by the spontaneous expansion of a discontinuous gas phase has not been extensively characterized in the literature. This study measured the expansion rate of a single gas cluster in a 1.1 mm sand above a pool of trans-1,2-dichloroethene (tDCE) in small-scale flow cell experiments. To characterize the gas flow, gas injection experiments in three sizes of sand were conducted at very slow injection rates typical of gas flow rates produced by gas expansion due to NAPL partitioning. Gas cluster spontaneous expansion rates above a tDCE pool were found to be 0.34 ± 0.02 and 0.29 ± 0.01 mL/day in duplicate experiments, which is sufficiently slow to result in discontinuous gas flow in porous media with a grain size diameter greater than 0.02 mm. Measured capillary pressures during gas injection showed patterns consistent with discontinuous gas flow, and identified multiple fragmentation events and expansion by coalescence with trapped clusters. The combination of pressure data and light transmission images were used to identify fragmentation and obtain direct measurements of the critical cluster length (i.e. the length at which withdrawal of the gas phase from a pore space occurs) in quasi-two-dimensional porous media for the first time. The measured critical cluster lengths were 1.4–3.6, 3.2–6.0 and 2.8–6.5 cm in 1.1, 0.7 and 0.5 mm sands, respectively. These values agreed well with estimates of the critical cluster length made using previously reported equations, and parameters derived from the medium’s capillary pressure-saturation relationship.     

Hydrocarbon leakage interpreted on seismic data

In an active petroleum system the amount of trapped hydrocarbons is the difference between the volumes charged and the volumes that have leaked or are otherwise destroyed. This paper focuses on the leakage processes taking place above a hydrocarbon-filled trap and how leakage is expressed on seismic data. A variety of seismic anomalies related to hydrocarbon leakage are interpreted and illustrated.     

Gas segregation in dykes and sills

Many basaltic volcanoes emit a substantial amount of gas over long periods of time while erupting relatively little degassed lava, implying that gas segregation must have occurred in the magmatic system. The geometry and degree of connectivity of the plumbing system of a volcano control the movement of magma in that system and could therefore provide an important control on gas segregation in basaltic magmas. We investigate gas segregation by means of analogue experiments and analytical modelling in a simple geometry consisting of a vertical conduit connected to a horizontal intrusion. In the experiments, degassing is simulated by electrolysis, producing micrometric bubbles in viscous mixtures of water and golden syrup. The presence of exsolved bubbles induces a buoyancy-driven exchange flow between the conduit and the intrusion that leads to gas segregation. Bubbles segregate from the fluid by rising and accumulating as foam at the top of the intrusion, coupled with the accumulation of denser degassed fluid at the base of the intrusion. Steady-state influx of bubbly fluid from the conduit into the intrusion is balanced by outward flux of lighter foam and denser degassed fluid. The length and time scales of this gas segregation are controlled by the rise of bubbles in the horizontal intrusion. Comparison of the gas segregation time scale with that of the cooling and solidification of the intrusion suggests that gas segregation is more efficient in sills (intrusions in a horizontal plane with typical width:length aspect ratio 1:100) than in horizontally-propagating dykes (intrusions in a vertical plane with typical aspect ratio 1:1000), and that this process could be efficient in intermediate as well as basaltic magmas. Our investigation shows that non-vertical elements of the plumbing systems act as strong gas segregators. Gas segregation has also implications for the generation of gas-rich and gas-poor magmas at persistently active basaltic volcanoes. For low magma supply rates, very efficient gas segregation is expected, which induces episodic degassing activity that erupts relatively gas-poor magmas. For higher magma supply rates, gas segregation is expected to be less effective, which leads to stronger explosions that erupt gas-rich as well as gas-poor magmas. These general physical principles can be applied to Stromboli volcano and are shown to be consistent with independent field data. Gas segregation at Stromboli is thought likely to occur in a shallow reservoir of sill-like geometry at 3.5 km depth with exsolved gas bubbles 0.1–1 mm in diameter. Transition between eruptions of gas-poor, high crystallinity magmas and violent explosions that erupt gas-rich, low crystallinity magmas are calculated to occur at a critical magma supply rate of 0.1–1 m³ s^− 1.     

Metallogenic Series Related to Permian Mafic Complex in North Xinjiang: Post-collisional Stage or Mantle Plume Result?

There are four deposit types related to a Permian mafic complex in northern Xinjiang, i.e., copper-nickel sulfide deposit, vanadic titanomagnetite deposit, magnetite （-cobalt） deposit and Cu-Ni- VTiFe composite deposit. The deposits are distributed spanning tectonic units with close and consecutive metallogenic ages. A transitional deposit type can occur among the end-member deposits. Trace elements of host rocks show that they can derive from similar source area. Hence, they constitute a particular metallogenic series related to a mafic-ultramafic complex that is also a symbol series of the post-collisional stage of the Central Asia Metallogenic Province （CAMP）. The metallogenic ages of the series are between 260 Ma and 300 Ma throughout the Permian. Unlike mineralization from a mantle plume, the metallogenic period of this series spans at least 40 Ma. Compared with related deposits of the Emeishan mantle plume, the North Xinjiang series has a similar ore-forming element assemblage but has preferably developed Cu-Ni sulfide deposits rather than vanadic titanomagnetite deposits. In concomitance with this series, North Xinjiang area has developed a set of syntectonic Au-Cu-Mo metallogenic series related to a felsic volcanic-intrusive complex, which might indicate that there is no direct relationship with mantle plume activity. From early to late, i.e., the sequence of copper-nickel sulfide to magnetite （-cobalt） to vanadic titanomagnetite deposit, the host rock series evolves from mafic-ultramafic and tholeiite series to mafic and alkalic series, the ~REE content tends to increase with increasing of REE fractionation, and some of the trace elements （particularly LIL） also show an increasing tendency. The above evolutionary regularity possibly reflects a course where the magma source deepens and thermal interface moves down, energy gradually exhausts, and neo-continental crust forming in the postcollision stage tends to stabilize.