An Upper Pliocene coarse pumice breccia generated by a shallow submarine explosive eruption,Milos, Greece

The Filakopi Pumice Breccia (FPB) is a very well exposed, Pliocene volcaniclastic unit on Milos, Greece, and has a minimum bulk volume of 1 km³. It consists of three main units: (A) basal lithic breccia (4–8 m) mainly composed of angular to subangular, andesitic and dacitic clasts up to 2.6 m in diameter; (B) very thickly bedded, poorly sorted pumice breccia (16–17 m); and (C) very thick, reversely graded, grain-supported, coarse pumice breccia (6.5–20 m), at the top. The depositional setting is well constrained as shallow marine (up to a few hundred metres) by overlying fossiliferous and bioturbated mudstone. This large volume of fine pumice clasts is interpreted to be the product of an explosive eruption from a submarine vent because: (1) pumice clasts are the dominant component; (2) the coarse pumice clasts (>64 mm) have complete quenched margins; (3) very large (>1 m) pumice clasts are common; (4) overall, the formation shows good hydraulic sorting; and (5) a significant volume of ash was deposited together with the coarsest pyroclasts.The bed forms in units A and B suggest deposition from lithic-rich and pumiceous, respectively, submarine gravity currents. In unit C, the coarse (up to 6.5 m) pumice clasts are set in matrix that grades upwards from diffusely stratified, fine (1–2 cm) pumice clasts at the base to laminated shard rich mud at the top. The coarse pumice clasts in unit C were settled from suspension and the framework was progressively infilled by fine pumice clasts from waning traction currents and then by water-settled ash. The FPB displays important features of the products of submarine explosive eruptions that result from the ambient fluid being seawater, rather than volcanic gas or air. In particular, submarine pyroclastic deposits are characterised by the presence of very coarse juvenile pumice clasts, pumice clasts with complete quenched rims, and good hydraulic sorting.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article if you access the article at . A link in the frame on the left on that page takes you directly to the supplementary material.Editorial responsibility: J. Donelly-Nolan     

A constitutive-relationship model for film flow on rough fracture surfaces

Film flow on fracture surfaces may be an important mechanism for fast flow in unsaturated fractured rocks. Incorporating this mechanism into a numerical model requires knowledge of constitutive relationships for film flow. Based on fractal concepts and a conceptual argument of Tokunaga et al. that water films could be treated as analogues to water in unsaturated porous media, a simple constitutive-relationship model has been developed. The validity of the model is supported by excellent agreements between calculation results and experimental observations for two different fracture surfaces.

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Resumen El flujo pelicular en la superficie de las fracturas puede ser un mecanismo importante para el flujo rápido en rocas fracturadas no saturadas. Incorporarlo en un modelo numérico requiere conocer las relaciones constitutivas del flujo pelicular. Se ha desarrollado un modelo de una relación constitutiva sencilla partiendo de conceptos fractales y de un argumento conceptual de Tokunaga et al., según el cual las películas de agua pueden ser tratadas como análogos del agua en medios porosos no saturados. La validez del modelo es corroborada por los excelentes ajustes entre los resultados numéricos y las observaciones experimentales en dos superficies de fracturas diferentes.

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Résumé Lécoulement en film sur les surfaces de fracture peut être un mécanisme important pour lécoulement rapide dans les roches fracturées non saturées. Lincorporation de ce mécanisme dans un modèle numérique nécessite la connaissance des relations fondamentales pour lécoulement en film. Basé sur des concepts fractals et sur un argument conceptuel de Tokunaga et al. selon lequel des films deau peuvent être considérés comme des analogues de leau en milieu poreux non saturé, un modèle simple des relations fondamentales a été développé. La validité de ce modèle est confirmée grâce à une excellente concordance entre les résultats du calcul et les observations expérimentales pour deux surfaces différentes de fractures.

     

Expériences de drainage et estimation de paramètres en milieu poreux non saturé

Two drainage experiments were carried out to identify the hydraulic parameters of a quartz sand by using inverse modelling. Our results, based on sensitivity and error analyses, show that (i) water content measurements are essential to estimate the parameters of the van Genuchten–Mualem retention curve, (ii) the saturated conductivity ($K_{\mathrm{s}}$) has a low sensitivity to pressure data and is not sensitive to other measures (water content and measured outflow), (iii) the inverse approach can be verified by comparing the simulated outflow to the measured one. To cite this article: H. Beydoun, F. Lehmann, C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

Rock Stress,Rock Stress Measurements,and the Integrated Stress Determination Method (ISDM)

The primary objectives of this work are to (1) improve the understanding of the prevailing stress distribution at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (HRL) in SE Sweden by employing an integrated stress determination approach, and in order to accomplish this (2) extend the existing stress integration methodology denominated integrated stress determination method (ISDM; Cornet in Comprehensive Rock Engineering vol 3, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 413–432, 1993a). The new developments of the ISDM involve a 12-parameter representation of the regional stress field in the rock mass (i.e., the full stress tensor and its variation with depth) that is applicable to hydraulic stress data (sleeve fracturing, hydraulic fracturing, and hydraulic tests on pre-existing fractures), overcoring data (CSIR- and CSIRO-type of devices), and to combinations of hydraulic and overcoring stress data. For the latter case, the elastic parameters of the overcoring technique may be solved in situ by allowing the hydraulic stress data to constrain them. As a result, the problem then involves 14 model parameters. Results from the study show that the ISDM effectively improves the precision of the prevailing stress field determination and that it is especially powerful for identification of consistencies/inconsistencies in an existing data set. Indeed, this is the very basic premise and goal of stress integration; combine all available data to achieve as complete a characterization of the mechanical stress model as possible, and not to identify a solution that fits only loosely the maximum amount of stress data.     

Upscaling of transmissivity,derived from specific capacity: a hydrogeomorphological approach applied to the Doon Valley aquifer system in India

Transmissivity (T) is one of the most important parameters in groundwater studies, and is generally estimated from pumping tests. T can also be deduced from abundantly available specific-capacity (Q/s) data by using analytical and/or empirical approaches, further upscaled by geostatistical methods. A different, remote sensing based, hydrogeomorphological approach is proposed, to upscale T from point- or well-scale to aquifer-scale, and it is applied to the piedmont alluvial aquifer system of Doon Valley in India. In the first step, Q/s and T data-pairs available from aquifer tests were used to establish an empirical, logarithmic relation. Subsequently, satellite imagery along with available data from published and unpublished maps, literature sources and ground surveys were used to divide the aquifer system into major hydrogeomorphological domains that control the groundwater occurrence and flow. Then, the T data derived from Q/s (using the empirical relation) and that available from pumping tests at well-scale were upscaled to aquifer-scale by averaging the T values within each hydrogeomorphological domain. Such a stratification approach is especially useful in areas where availability of only a few data-pairs of known Q/s and T limit the use of geostatistical techniques. A comparative study of the published empirical relations between Q/s and T in various hydrogeologic settings revealed that the relation obtained for Doon Valley aquifer system is close to that found for a similar alluvial aquifer system in Morocco.     

熊耳山地区内生金矿床成矿系列

按容矿空间和控矿因素,可将熊耳山地区内生金矿床划分为角砾岩型、构造破碎带蚀变岩型、石英脉型及由不同控矿因素复合控制的复合类型等。空间上不同类型之间具有密切的共生过渡关系。太华群原岩中的金在变质热液作用下被活化迁移至有利的构造部位,发生局部富集,形成"矿胚"或"矿胚"的发展,并为后期岩浆热液再次搬运,参与成矿。燕山中晚期钙碱性岩浆岩具较大的成矿能力,是本区金矿床的主要矿源。不同类型矿床稳定同位素及包裹体特征具相似的变化特点,分析表明,成矿流体主要源自岩浆,在成矿早期和晚期,不同地区可能有不同程度的变质水或大气水加入。作者认为,区内不同类型的金矿床是在统一的大地构造环境和成矿背景中形成的,有统一的矿质和介质来源,具相同或相似的成因,以发育角砾岩型金矿床为特点,以构造破碎带蚀变岩和角砾岩型为主要矿床类型,形成一个特定的矿床组合,即熊耳山地区内生金矿床系列。     

THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATION OF PARTICLE-LIQUID TWO-PHASE TURBULENT FLOW IN A HYDRAULIC TURBINE RUNNER

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PHENOMENA AND CONTROLLING FACTORS IN DRAWDOWN FLUSHING PROCESSES

IINTRODUCTIONByutilizingthenatUralpowerofflow,hydraulicflushingisaneconomicaltechniquetoremovethedepositedsedimentineitherasettlingbasinorareservoir.Inmanyreservoirsaroundtheworld,hydraulicflushinghasbeenprovenasaneffectivemethodtosustainthereservoirstoragecapacity.Hydraulicflushingprocessesmayinvolveboththeprocessesofscouringpreviousdepositsandpassingincomingsediment-ladenflow,suchasgravitycurrent,throughareservoirtobereleased.Inthisarticle,onlytheformercaseisdiscussed.Thekeythinginthef…     

Formation of mud clast breccias and the process of sedimentary autobrecciation in the hominin-bearing (Homo naledi) Rising Star Cave system,South Africa

Unconsolidated mud clast breccia facies in the hominin-bearing (Homo naledi) Rising Star Cave, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, are interpreted to have formed through a process termed sedimentary autobrecciation in this study. This process, by which most of the angular mud clast breccia deposits are thought to have formed autochthonously to para-autochthonously via a combination of erosion, desiccation, diagenesis and microbial alteration of laminated mud deposits, is thought to have taken place under relatively dry (i.e. non-flooded) conditions inside the cave. Subsequently, gravitational slumping and collapse was the dominant mechanism that produced the mud clast breccia deposits, which commonly accumulate into debris aprons. The mud clast breccia is typically associated with (micro) mammal fossils and is a common facies throughout the cave system, occurring in lithified and unlithified form. This facies has not been described from other cave localities in the Cradle of Humankind. Additionally, sedimentary autobrecciation took place during the deposition of some of the fossils within the Rising Star Cave, including the abundant Homo naledi skeletal remains found in the Dinaledi Subsystem. Reworking of the mud clast breccia deposits occurs in some chambers as they slump towards floor drains, resulting in the repositioning of fossils embedded in the breccias as evidenced by cross-cutting manganese staining lines on some Homo naledi fossil remains. The formation of the unlithified mud clast breccia deposits is a slow process, with first order formation rates estimated to be ca 8 × 10⁻⁴ mm year⁻¹. The slow formation of the unlithified mud clast breccia facies sediments and lack of laminated mud facies within these deposits, indicates that conditions in the Dinaledi Chamber were probably stable and dry for at least the last ca 300 ka, meaning that this study excludes Homo naledi being actively transported by fluvial mechanisms during the time their remains entered the cave.     

福建政和县东际金（银）矿床黄铁矿微量元素和硫-铅同位素及锆石年龄研究

东际金(银)矿床赋存于燕山晚期南园组火山岩中,是东南沿海地区一个隐爆角砾岩型贵金属矿床,已探明金资源量达12.5 t,银资源量135.9 t。通过开展主要金属硫化物黄铁矿电子探针和硫-铅同位素分析,讨论了成矿作用和成矿物质来源等问题。研究表明,东际金(银)矿床黄铁矿Co/Ni值3～94(平均值23)且Co含量为500×10-6～1070×10-6(均值799×10-6),Fe/(S+As)值0.827～0.871(均值0.860),Au/Ag值0.9～5.5(均值2.6),反映该矿床是与陆相火山作用有关的浅成中低温热液型矿床。黄铁矿δ34S在-6.6‰～-0.7‰,206Pb/204Pb为17.9801～18.4303,207Pb/204Pb为15.2689～15.9397,208Pb/204Pb为37.9052～38.7871,指示成矿物质主要来源于具有壳幔混源性质的花岗质岩浆,此外含矿热液也活化萃取了部分基底变质岩和火山岩围岩的金属元素。通过锆石U-Pb年代学研究和区域成矿资料对比,东际金(银)矿床成矿时代可被限定于早白垩世晚期。