News from the seabed – Geological characteristics and resource potential of deep-sea mineral resources

Marine minerals such as manganese nodules, Co-rich ferromanganese crusts, and seafloor massive sulfides are commonly seen as possible future resources that could potentially add to the global raw materials supply. At present, a proper assessment of these resources is not possible due to a severe lack of information regarding their size, distribution, and composition. It is clear, however, that manganese nodules and Co-rich ferromanganese crusts are a vast resource and mining them could have a profound impact on global metal markets, whereas the global resource potential of seafloor massive sulfides appears to be small. These deep-sea mineral commodities are formed by very different geological processes resulting in deposits with distinctly different characteristics. The geological boundary conditions also determine the size of any future mining operations and the area that will be affected by mining. Similarly, the sizes of the most favorable areas that need to be explored for a global resource assessment are also dependent on the geological environment. Size reaches 38 million km² for manganese nodules, while those for Co-rich crusts (1.7 million km²) and massive sulfides (3.2 million km²) are much smaller. Moreover, different commodities are more abundant in some jurisdictions than in others. While only 19% of the favorable area for manganese nodules lies within the Exclusive Economic Zone of coastal states or is covered by proposals for the extension of the continental shelf, 42% of the favorable areas for massive sulfides and 54% for Co-rich crusts are located in EEZs.     

基于CO1基因的渔山列岛厚壳贻贝遗传资源评估

基于线粒体CO1基因的序列,对渔山列岛,大连獐子岛,南麂列岛,山东南隍城乡,舟山嵊泗5个野生群体的厚壳贻贝进行遗传多样性和遗传结构的分析。结果表明:在mt DNACO1基因同源片段上共检测到了39个多态位点,其中39个简约信息位点,无单突变位点,构成40个单倍型,群体遗传多样性水平为:渔山山东大连舟山南麂;然而单倍型多样性却是山东渔山南麂大连舟山。分子进化树和单倍型网络关系图构建结果显示:5个群体之间分为3个单倍型类群(A、B、C),其中A类群含15个单倍型,B类群含23个单倍型,C类群含2个单倍型(均为渔山列岛的单倍型),其中渔山列岛的单倍型在上述三个类群中都有分布。3个单倍型类群间的遗传距离为0.0099~0.0268。渔山列岛群体内遗传分化较为显著,其他4个群体间未检测到显著的遗传分化。     

山东省滨海湿地生态价值评估

本文依据Google Earth近2年的遥感影像以及2013年的资源3号卫星影像数据,并结合他人前期研究资料,对山东省滨海湿地的分布和类型进行了研究,使用ArcGIS软件测算出滨海湿地总面积约为5 124km2,其中自然湿地占35.23%,人工湿地占64.77%。根据山东省湿地实际状况,以及湿地的地理位置、成因、水文、生物等要素的差异,将山东省滨海湿地划分为十种类型,并在此基础上,针对滨海湿地不同的生态服务功能类型,采取了不同的方法进行初步价值评估。结果表明,山东省滨海湿地生态服务总价值约3 303亿元,约占山东省2013年GDP的6.04%。其中物质生产价值约占总价值的50.70%,其次为环境调节价值,约占48.24%,社会服务价值只占1.06%。这表明,山东省滨海湿地蕴含较高的经济和生态潜力,能带来较高的经济效益和生态效益,但是社会服务功能价值量相对偏低,有待于进一步重视和开发。     

海滩养护工程质量评价研究进展

由于自然因素和人类活动的影响等原因,世界很多海滩经受着侵蚀和破坏。而利用人工养护工程来保护和恢复海滩具有养护效果较明显、干滩面积明显增加以及不破坏环境景观的优点,目前得到越来越多国家的认可。国外由于养滩历史较久,养滩工程后的监测和质量评价不仅开展得早,而且已经成为工程的一个重要部分。评价指标已经比较完善,甚至有些国家已经将养滩效果评价列入法规框架之中。我国的海滩养护工程在十几年前才开始,虽然工程量逐年增长,但是对海滩养护工程施工后的工程监测和工程评价却较少涉及。本文对美国、荷兰、英国、丹麦以及我国等国家的海滩养护工程的工程评价工作进行总结,从而提出适用于我国工程特点的养滩工程质量评价因子和方法。     

天津鲤鱼门滩涂经济贝类资源变化及原因探讨

为探讨天津汉沽鲤鱼门潮间带经济贝类资源的变化特征,2012~2014年作者对该滩涂经济贝类开展资源调查,并与2008年的调查结果进行对比分析。结果表明:2012~2014年经济贝类种数分别为9种、10种、10种,高于2008年的7种;鲤鱼门滩涂经济贝类主要分布于中潮区,2012~2014年中潮区经济贝类资源量分别为1 082.8、1 183.9和1 339.8g/m2,高于2008年的293.5 g/m2;2012~2014年优势种为菲律宾蛤(Ruditapes philippinarum)仔,优势度90%以上,2008年优势种为四角蛤蜊(Mactra veneriformis);近年来菲律宾蛤仔大量出现,与邻近海域的大规模增殖放流活动密切相关。     

盆地地热场模拟在地热资源勘探中的应用

地热资源是一种新型无污染能源,具有极高的开采价值,已经受到世界各国的关注.盆地因其特殊的地质条件,内部往往蕴涵着丰富的地热资源,且具有易开采、利用的特点.但目前地热资源勘探的手段和研究方法单一,制约着地热资源的开采与开发.而盆地地热场模拟技术已经较为成熟,并在油气成藏模拟中广泛应用.我们可以在已有的技术手段下结合盆地地热模拟技术来提高勘探的精度.本文还探讨了以地温控制方程与地下热水水流方程相结合来建立模型,模拟盆地地热资源.     

海洋沉积地质过程模拟:性质与问题及前景

探讨了海洋沉积地质数值模拟的功能问题.地球科学研究以正演方法(以数值模拟为代表)和反演方法(以地层记录分析为代表)的结合为特征.数值模拟作为一种重要的研究工具,具有获得过程和机理分析结果、形成工作假说、指导现场观测和采样的作用.与此同时,在正反演交融中模型本身也得到了提高和完善.在海洋沉积地质领域,数值模拟在沉积物输运...     

Propagation of water waves over permeable rippled beds

Unsteady two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations and Navier-Stokes type model equations for porous flow were solved numerically to simulate the propagation of water waves over a permeable rippled bed. A boundary-fitted coordinate system was adopted to make the computational meshes consistent with the rippled bed. The accuracy of the numerical scheme was confirmed by comparing the numerical results concerning the spatial distribution of wave amplitudes over impermeable and permeable rippled beds with the analytical solutions. For periodic incident waves, the flow field over the wavy wall is discussed in terms of the steady Eulerian streaming velocity. The trajectories of the fluid particles that are initially located close to the ripples were also determined. One of the main results herein is that under the action of periodic water waves, fluid particles on an impermeable rippled bed initially moved back and forth around the ripple crest, with increasing vertical distance from the rippled wall. After one or two wave periods, they are then lifted towards the next ripple crest. All of the marked particles on a permeable rippled bed were shifted onshore with a much larger displacement than those on an impermeable bed. Finally, the flow fields and the particle motions close to impermeable and permeable beds induced by a solitary wave are elucidated.     

Evaluation of oceanic transport parameters using transient tracers from observations and model output

A method is presented to find the age distribution of ocean waters, the transit-time distribution (TTD), by combining an eddying global ocean model’s estimate of the TTD with hydrographic observations of CFC-11, temperature, and salinity. The method uses a mixture model of an assumed form of the TTD, an inverse Gaussian (IG), and an established Bayesian statistical method. All known significant sources of uncertainty are propagated to arrive at estimates of two oceanic transport parameters associated with the IG TTD, the mean age (Γ) and either the half-variance (${\mathrm{\Delta }}^2$) or the Peclet number ($\mathit{Pe}={\mathrm{\Gamma }}^2/{\mathrm{\Delta }}^2$). It is found that the uncertainties on Γ do not overlap zero in most locations using only CFC-11, temperature, and salinity. However, the uncertainty on the other IG parameter does not overlap zero in only a few locations. With the inclusion of another transient tracer (³He/³H), the uncertainty on this other IG parameter does not overlap zero in just a few additional locations in the deep North Atlantic Ocean. Neither a single- nor mixture-IG representation is adequate for representing the full TTD in the ocean, particularly in the Southern Ocean.Differences between the IG parameters estimated using the model’s tracers as data (BayesPOP) and those estimated using tracer observations as data (BayesObs) provide information about the sources of model biases, and give a more nuanced picture than can be found by comparing the simulated CFCs with observed CFCs. Using the differences between each of the oceanic transport parameters from BayesObs and those from BayesPOP with and without a constant Pe assumption along each of the hydrographic cross-sections considered here, it is found that the model’s eddy mixing biases often lead to larger model errors than the model’s mean advection time biases. It is also found that mean advection time biases in the model can be statistically significant at the 95% level where mode water is found in the Southern Ocean.     

Theoretical aspects of cap-rock and fault seals for single- and two-phase hydrocarbon columns

Cap-rock seals can be divided genetically into those that fail by capillary leakage (membrane seals) and those whose capillary entry pressures are so high that seal failure preferentially occurs by fracturing and/or wedging open of faults (hydraulic seals). A given membrane seal can trap a larger oil column than gas column at shallow depths, but below a critical depth (interval), gas is more easily sealed than oil. This critical depth increases with lower API gravity, lower oil GOR and overpressured conditions (for the gas phase). These observations arise from a series of modelling studies of membrane sealing and can be conveniently represented using pressure/ depth (P/D) profiles through sealed hydrocarbon columns. P/D diagrams have been applied to the more complex situation of the membrane sealing of a gas cap underlain by an oil rim; at seal capacity, such a two-phase column will be always greater than if only oil or gas occurs below the seal.These conclusions contrast with those for hydraulic seals where the seal capacity to oil always exceeds that for gas. Moreover, a trapped two-phase column, at hydraulic seal capacity will be less than the maximum-allowed oil-only column, but more than the maximum gas-only column. Unlike membrane seals, hydraulic seal capacity should be directly related to cap-rock thickness, in addition to the magnitude of the minimum effective stress in the sealing layer and the degree of overpressure development in the sequence as a whole.Fault-related seals are effectively analogous to membrane cap-rocks which have been tilted to the angle of the fault plane. Consequently, all of the above conclusions derived for membrane cap-rocks apply to both sealing faults sensu stricto (fault plane itself seals) and juxtaposition faults (hydrocarbon trapped laterally against a juxtaposed sealing unit). The maximum-allowed two-phase column trapped by a sealing fault is greater than for equivalent oil-only and gas-only columns, but less than that predicted for a horizontal membrane cap-rock under similar conditions. Where a two-phase column is present on both sides of a sealing fault (which is at two-phase seal capacity), a deeper oil/water contact (OWC) in one fault block is associated with a deeper gas/oil contact (GOC) compared with the adjacent fault block. If the fault seal is discontinuous in the gas leg, however, the deeper OWC is accompanied by a shallower GOC, whereas a break in the fault seal in the oil leg results in a common OWC in both fault blocks, even though separate GOC's exist. Schematic P/D profiles are provided for each of the above situations from which a series of fundamental equations governing single- and two-phase cap-rock and fault seal capacities can be derived. These relationships may have significant implications for exploration prospect appraisal exercises where more meaningful estimates of differential seal capacities can be made.The membrane sealing theory developed herein assumes that all reservoirs and seals are water-wet and no hydrodynamic flow exists. The conclusions on membrane seal capacity place constraints on the migration efficiency of gas along low-permeabiligy paths at depth where fracturing, wedging open of faults and/or diffusion process may be more important. Contrary to previous assertions, it is speculated that leakage of hydrocarbons through membrane seals occurs in distinct pulses such that the seal is at or near the theoretically calculated seal capacity, once this has been initially attained.Finally, the developed seal theory and P/D profile concepts are applied to a series of development geological problems including the effects of differential depletion, and degree of aquifer support, on sealing fault leakage, and the evaluation of barriers to vertical cross-flow using RFT profiles through depleted reservoirs. It is shown that imbibition processes and dynamic effects related to active cross-flow across such barriers often preclude quantitative analysis and solution of these problems for which simulation studies are usually required.