From the Seam to the Stove: greenhouse gas assessment and the coal seam gas industry in Australia

In Australia, Coal Seam Gas (CSG) is a relatively new source of natural gas commonly advocated as a lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions alternative to coal. This study investigates how GHG emissions have been, and potentially could be, assessed within the Australian CSG industry. The research involved a document analysis of several Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) and consultant reports prepared as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for major CSG projects in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (Qld). There were found to be inconsistencies in the conduct of greenhouse assessment by the CSG industry, including how complete and transparent assessments were, as well as how effectively they addressed project emission intensity and cumulative impacts. There were also found to be large inconsistencies between assessments carried out for Qld projects and those for NSW projects, likely because of differences in how assessment requirements are applied by planning bodies. This study also highlights how alternative assessment approaches, such as Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), have potential to enable a broader and more consistent understanding of emission sources that cross a range of geographical and project boundaries.     

Mediterranean cities under fire. A critical approach to the wildland–urban interface

Wildfires are widely reviewed as key inputs to Mediterranean ecosystems. However, research is often flawed by major biases. (1) The approach adopted by most planners focusing on forest fires dismisses the human dimension of fire as a component of agricultural production systems. (2) The Wildland–Urban Interface (WUI) concept postulates that cities and wildlands/wildfires are, and should remain, worlds apart, a statement whose truth is increasingly questioned by recent disastrous “urban wildfires”. (3) The Mediterranean Basin as a fire-prone area is all the more fantasized, as it is almost never studied as a whole.The present paper takes a critical view of city–wildland/wildfire interrelationships through a large-scale study of the Mediterranean Basin based on MODIS MCD12Q1 (Land Cover Type) and MCD45A1 (Burned Area Product) data collected between 2001 and 2013. The Mediterranean is an ideal place to investigate, as its human-dominated and urbanized landscapes are known to be extremely vulnerable to fire hazards. Data processing reveals that (wild)fires and cities maintain indissoluble ties, as if both elements could not be considered mutually exclusive on a geographical basis. Urban sprawl, reduced rural autonomies, changes in forest covers, old agricultural practices, and military conflicts provide the framework for an extended mitigation process challenging the WUI concept as a space divider.     

An approach of surface coal fire detection from ASTER and Landsat-8 thermal data: Jharia coal field,India

Radiant temperature images from thermal remote sensing sensors are used to delineate surface coal fires, by deriving a cut-off temperature to separate coal-fire from non-fire pixels. Temperature contrast of coal fire and background elements (rocks and vegetation etc.) controls this cut-off temperature. This contrast varies across the coal field, as it is influenced by variability of associated rock types, proportion of vegetation cover and intensity of coal fires etc. We have delineated coal fires from background, based on separation in data clusters in maximum v/s mean radiant temperature (13th band of ASTER and 10th band of Landsat-8) scatter-plot, derived using randomly distributed homogeneous pixel-blocks (9 × 9 pixels for ASTER and 27 × 27 pixels for Landsat-8), covering the entire coal bearing geological formation. It is seen that, for both the datasets, overall temperature variability of background and fires can be addressed using this regional cut-off. However, the summer time ASTER data could not delineate fire pixels for one specific mine (Bhulanbararee) as opposed to the winter time Landsat-8 data. The contrast of radiant temperature of fire and background terrain elements, specific to this mine, is different from the regional contrast of fire and background, during summer. This is due to the higher solar heating of background rocky outcrops, thus, reducing their temperature contrast with fire. The specific cut-off temperature determined for this mine, to extract this fire, differs from the regional cut-off. This is derived by reducing the pixel-block size of the temperature data. It is seen that, summer-time ASTER image is useful for fire detection but required additional processing to determine a local threshold, along with the regional threshold to capture all the fires. However, the winter Landsat-8 data was better for fire detection with a regional threshold.     

Geochemistry of the Eocene Jijuntun Formation oil shale in the Fushun Basin,northeast China: Implications for source-area weathering,provenance and tectonic setting

Within the fault-bound Fushun Basin of northeastern China, the Eocene Jijuntun Formation hosts extensive deposits of thick lacustrine oil shale. Systematic sampling and geochemical analysis of these deposits has revealed that the parent rocks of the oil shale underwent moderate chemical weathering; and that its mineralogy and trace and rare earth element geochemistry were mainly controlled by parent rock composition, with no synsedimentary changes in the source terrain. Based on source rock and tectonic setting discrimination diagrams, we concluded that the parent rocks of the oil shale were mostly basalts of the Paleogene Laohutai Formation. These basalts originated in a continental back arc environment and contain abundant nutrient elements such as Fe, P, Ni, Cu and Zn, all of which are essential for the growth of aquatic photoautotrophs in lakes. Continuous, high primary productivity in the Jinjuntun lacustrine depocentre, combined with a stable tectonic setting and underfilled sedimentary environment, were key factors in the genesis of its oil shale.     

Geochemical constraints on the contribution of Louisville seamount materials to magmagenesis in the Lau back-arc basin,SW Pacific

Seamounts are an integral part of element recycling in global subduction zones. The published trace element and Pb-Sr-Nd isotope data for basaltic lavas from three key segments (Central Lau Spreading Ridge (CLSR), Eastern Lau Spreading Ridge (ELSR), and Valu Fa Ridge (VFR)) of the Lau back-arc basin were compiled to evaluate the contribution of Louisville seamount materials to their magma genesis. Two geochemical transitions, separating three provinces with distinct geochemical characteristics independent of ridge segmentation, were identified based on abrupt geochemical shifts. The origin of the geochemical transitions was determined to be the result of drastic compositional changes of subduction components added into the mantle source, rather than the transition from Indian to Pacific mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) mantle, or due to variable mantle fertilities. The most likely explanation for the drastic shifts in subduction input is the superimposition of Louisville materials on ‘normal’ subduction components consisting predominantly of aqueous fluids liberated from the down-going altered oceanic crust and minor pelagic sediment melts. Quantitative estimation reveals that Louisville materials contributed 0–74% and 21–83% of the Th budget, respectively, to CLSR and VFR lavas, but had no definite contribution to the lavas from the ELSR, which lies farthest away from the subducted Louisville seamount chain (LSC). The spatial association of the subducted LSC with the Louisville-affected segments suggests that the Louisville signature is regionally but not locally available in the Tonga subduction zone. Besides, the preferential melting of subducted old Cretaceous LSC crust instead of the old normal Pacific oceanic crust at similar depths implies that elevated temperature across the subduction interface or seamount erosion and rupture were required to trigger melting. A wider implication of this study, thus, is that seamount subduction may promote efficiency of element recycling in subduction zones.     

Old Chico’s new tricks: Neoliberalization and water sector reform in Brazil’s São Francisco River Basin

This article examines changing water governance modalities in the context of the neoliberalization of nature. Specifically, it focuses on Brazilian water sector reforms passed in 1997 that mandate decentralized and participatory decision-making at the river basin scale. Critics have suggested that rescaling, decentralization, and participatory governance mechanisms – supposedly intended to render decision-making more equitable, accessible, and relevant – can serve to legitimate, facilitate, and thus further embed processes of neoliberalization. Examining the impact of Brazil’s water sector reforms on the state–society relationship, this article presents a case study of water governance in the São Francisco River Basin and finds that the reforms – despite their neoliberalizing potential – have not significantly contributed to the neoliberalization of governance therein. Instead, water governance continues to be characterized by longstanding patterns of traditional elite control. Through an institutional and socio-natural analysis, this article describes and accounts for the continued dominance of these patterns relative to neoliberalization and explores activists’ efforts to use water sector reforms to pursue more progressive possibilities. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for variegation and contestation in ongoing debates over neoliberal natures.     

基于反射地震资料探讨泥河湾盆地的新生代和中生代地层

查明泥河湾盆地新生界及中生界地层序列及基底的分布与赋存形态是研究泥河湾盆地形成机制的基础性工作。本研究在泥河湾盆地桑干河与壶流河交接处附近采集了四条测线的反射地震数据,通过对精细处理后的地震剖面进行详细分析,在剖面上厘定了三个具有明显强反射标志的地层,即古近系的玄武岩、侏罗系上统的含煤地层和侏罗系下统的含煤地层;其中,新近系沉积层与古近系玄武岩界面在地震剖面上出现的双程旅行时为0.3~0.6s,深度范围为300~500m,而第四系泥河湾组底界由南西到北东逐渐加深,其界面深度为200~300m;侏罗系上统含煤地层在地震剖面上出现的双程旅行时在0.8s上下波动,其深度约为1200m,探测出侏罗系上统顶界面的深度范围为800~1100m;侏罗系下统含煤地层在地震剖面上出现的双程旅行时为1.0~1.4s,深度范围为1800~2000m,由此推测出中生界侏罗系与古生界寒武系地层分界线的深度为2000m左右;根据地震反射波阻抗差别推测出新元古界和太古界地层的分界面在地震剖面上出现的时间约为2.5s,其深度为4000m左右。本研究通过四条反射地震测线的数据基本上查明了泥河湾盆地位于探测区处第四系泥河湾组底界面的深度分布范围及起伏形态、侏罗系上统顶界面和下统底界面的大致埋深,为查明泥河湾盆地新生界及中生界地层序列提供了基础性的参考信息。     

云南思茅盆地景谷地区下白垩统曼岗组风成砂岩沉积学特征及其古气候意义

本文通过野外剖面的观察和实测,室内薄片鉴定、阴极发光分析、粒度分析、扫描电镜及能谱测试分析,研究了云南思茅盆地景谷地区下白垩统曼岗组风成砂岩沉积学特征,详细了解了风成砂岩的发育特征,以期为研究区白垩纪古气候研究提供新的资料,为我国钾盐勘探提供一定的地质依据和新的思路。研究结果表明:1研究区曼岗组主要出露一套中—细粒石英砂岩、岩屑石英砂岩,发育中—大型交错层理、平行层理,碎屑颗粒分选中等-好,以次圆状-圆状为主,孔隙不发育,杂基含量少;2曼岗组中段发育具平行层理的石英砂岩,粒度分布呈双众数,带状分布,石英颗粒为浑圆状,颗粒表面见Fe、Mn质薄膜,颗粒表面具明显的碟形坑等特征,属于典型的风成砂岩,初步判定其沉积环境为风成沙丘和丘间沉积;3景谷地区下白垩统曼岗组风成砂岩,整体表现为干热型气候,曼岗组中段为丘间沉积,曼岗组上段和下段为沙丘沉积。其在搬运沉积成岩过程中经历了强烈的物理、化学风化作用,整体表现为氧化环境,风力较大,风速稳定,持续时间长。此外,可能还经历了一段时期的湿润性气候环境,这可能与大气降水、大气环流带的迁移,以及白垩纪海侵作用等有关。     

滇西思茅盆地景谷地区曼岗组石英颗粒表面特征及其指示意义

石英具有硬度大和化学稳定性高的特点,其颗粒表面特征能很好的反映沉积环境,通过扫描电镜观察石英表面微细特征是判别沉积环境行之有效的方法。思茅盆地白垩系曾一度被认为是陆相水成沉积,笔者通过野外识别及室内基础研究发现,景谷地区下白垩统曼岗组具有风成沉积特征,需对该套地层开展石英颗粒表面特征的系统研究来进一步确定其沉积相,研究结果表明:研究区曼岗组石英颗粒表面具有明显的风成特征,磨圆度高,普遍发育典型的蝶形撞击坑、新月形撞击坑、毛玻璃化表面,存在沙漠漆,极易与水成特征相区别;而其较强的溶蚀作用与沉淀作用则显示了当时干旱炎热的气候条件。在风成沉积确定的基础上,笔者再结合典型沉积构造,粒度分析、岩性特征等沉积特征进行综合分析,认为研究区曼岗组应属沙漠沉积。     

Interplay between an axial channel belt,slope gullies and overbank deposition in the Puchkirchen Formation in the Molasse Basin,Austria

Deep‐water sediments in the Molasse Basin, Austria, were deposited in a narrow foreland basin dominated by a large channel belt located between the steep Alpine fold and thrust belt to the south and the gentler northern slope off the Bohemian Massif. Several gas fields occur outside the channel belt, along the outer bend of a large meander. Accumulation of these overbank sediments reflects a complicated interplay between slope accommodation and debris‐flow and turbidity‐flow interaction within the channel. The tectonically oversteepened northern slope of the basin (ca 2 to 3°) developed a regionally important erosional surface, the Northern Slope Unconformity, which can be traced seismically for >100 km in an east–west direction and >20 km from the channel to the north. The slope preserves numerous gullies sourced from the north that eroded into the channel belt. These gullies were ca 20 km long, <1 km wide and ca 200 m deep. As the channel aggraded, largely inactive and empty gullies served as entry points into the overbank area for turbidity currents within the axial channel. Subsequently, debris‐flow mounds, 7 km wide and >15 km long, plugged and forced the main channel to step abruptly ca 7 km to the south. This resulted in development of an abrupt turn in the channel pathway that propagated to the east and probably played a role in forming a sinuous channel later. As debris‐flow topography was healed, flows spread out onto narrow area between the main channel and northern slope forming a broad fine‐grained apron that serves as the main gas reservoir in this area. This model of the overbank splay formation and the resulting stratigraphic architecture within the confined basin could be applied in modern and ancient systems or for subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs where three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection data is limited. This study elucidates the geomorphology of the oversteepened slope of the under‐riding plate and its effects on the sedimentation.