Coal mining along the Warfield Fault, Mingo County, West Virginia: a tale of ups and downs

Mine development along a 15-mile (24 km) section of the Warfield Fault in Mingo County, West Virginia has broadened the geological understanding of the fault and its related structures. The fault has been exposed in two new road cuts, one in the northeast-trending segment at Neely Branch and one in the eastern east-trending segment at the head of Marrowbone Creek. Both exposures show a well-defined normal fault with a 45° to 55° N dip, juxtaposing sandstone/shale packages from the roof and the floor of the Coalburg seam. The fault is associated with a thin gouge zone, some drag folding, and parallel jointing. Its trace tends to run parallel to the crest of the adjacent Warfield Anticline. Based on underground mine development and detailed core drilling, the vertical offset along the fault plane ranges from a maximum of 240 ft (73 m) in the central part of the area near the structural bend to less than 100 ft (30 m) in western and eastern directions. The fault is located along the relatively steeply dipping (locally in excess of 25%) southern limb of the Warfield Anticline, and appears related to a late phase of extension involving folded Pennsylvanian strata. On a regional scale, the lithological variations across the fault do not suggest any appreciable strike-slip component.Underground room and pillar mines in the Coalburg seam north and south of the fault have been greatly impacted by the Warfield structures. Due to the combined (and opposite) effects of the folding and faulting, the northern mines are located up to 400 ft (125 m) higher in elevation than the southern ones. Overland conveyor belts connect mining blocks separated by the fault. The practical mining limit along the steep slopes toward the fault is around 15%. Subsidiary normal faults with offsets in the 5- to 15-ft (1.5–4.5 m) range are fairly common and form major roof control and production hurdles. Overall, the Warfield structures pose an extra challenge to mine development in this part of the Appalachian Coalfields.     

Mid-holocene climate change in Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana

Lake Bosumtwi is one of the most widely studied palaeoclimate archives in West Africa. Results from numerous AMS ¹⁴C dates of samples from four piston cores from Lake Bosumtwi show that an abrupt sedimentary transition from a mid-Holocene sapropel to calcareous laminated muds occurred at about 3200 cal yr B.P. High-resolution analyses of the nitrogen isotopic composition of organic matter across this transition confirm its abrupt nature, and suggest that the change may signal a step toward increased aridity and intensified surface winds that affected western equatorial Africa from Ghana to the Congo basin. Northern and Eastern Africa experienced a similar abrupt shift toward aridity during the late Holocene, but at about 5000 cal yr B.P., a difference in timing that illustrates the regional nature of climate changes during the Holocene and the importance of feedback mechanisms in regulating Holocene climate variability. Furthermore, an abrupt change at about 3000 cal yr B.P. occurs at several sites adjacent to the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, which may hint at major changes in the surface temperatures of the tropical Atlantic and/or Pacific at this time.     

中国西部退耕还林(草)和沙漠化土地绿化的区域性气候效应

中国正在实施的西部大开发必将导致较大规模的土地利用和地表覆盖(LULC)变化,其中最重要的两类LULC变化是退耕还林(草)和沙漠化土地绿化工程。利用最新的全球地表特征资料数据库(GLCCD)识别以上两项生态建设工程的实施规模与范围,并以此更新了目前比较流行的区域气候模式的下边界条件,利用修正了的区域气候模式研究上述大规模LULC变化可能对中国区域性气候造成的影响。使用的卫星资源数据库是由美国地质测绘局(USGS)和Nebraska-Lincoln大学牵头,根据NOAA卫星的AVHRR资料、USGS掌握的高分辨率数字化地图,以及生态区划和植被分布等资料组建的。     

2001年11月14日昆仑山口西8.1级地震前地震活动性异常及其思考s

2001年11月14日在昆仑山口西发生了8.1级地震，震中位置为90.9E、36.2N．分析表明，8.1级地震前一些主要地震活动性异常都出现了，例如空区、条带、增强、平静和震群等，且与7级大震比较，这些前兆图象的演变具有类似的过程，所不同的是8.1级地震的前兆地震活动图象涉及的区域范围更大、地震震级更高，这为特大地震的前兆识别和预报提供了依据．最后回顾了对这次大震的粗略预测，并讨论了有关大震预测的某些问题．      

辽宁西部地区地震前后重力异常反映

采用高精度拉科斯特重力仪在辽宁西部地区进行多期重力重复测量，获得了较为丰富的基础资料，通过对资料的分析与研究，进一步加深了辽宁西部地区重力场变化的认识。特别是１９９４年１０月和１９９６年７月，在测区内及其附近相继发生ＭＬ４．９级和ＭＬ５．０级地震。而这两次地震为１９８８年以来在辽宁西部地区发生的最大地震。通过对该区流动重力资料空间上和时间上的研究分析，从中获得了震前重力变化的某些前兆信息。通过对该     

Mobility of heavy metals as a function of pH of samples from an overbank sediment profile contaminated by mining activities

Parts of the flood plains north of the Harz Mountains are contaminated with heavy metals, such as Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd derived from mining, which has been carried out in the Harz Mts. since the Middle Ages. It is important to know the mobility of the heavy metals in these overbank sediments in order to estimate the danger to the environment arising from this source. This paper deals with the effect of pH on heavy-metal mobility, using a constant-pH method. The investigations were carried out on an overbank sediment profile near Salzgitter Bad, north of the Harz Mts. The mobility of the heavy metals in the overbank sediment profile is described as a function of pH and depth. Besides the mobile heavy-metal fraction at a certain pH, the buffering capacity of the sediment at this pH must be taken into consideration. The different layers of the overbank sediment profile show distinct differences in buffering capacity and a natural pH harrier could be identified in the upper part of the profile. Therefore, to avoid increasing heavy-metal mobility the natural layering of the overbank sediment profile should not be disturbed. Two different kinds of desorption experiments at constant pH are also discussed, as well as the conversion of the heavy-metal species in the ore minerals into the species in the sediment.     

天山泥石流灾害的形成条件和过程特点

泥石流是天山主要自然灾害之一， 天山泥石流按触发因素可以分为暴雨型泥石流和冰川型泥石流两类。目前天山泥石流主要对效能运输造成灾害在部分地点对厂矿企业和居民点造成灾害，天山泥石流的形成和发生有其特点，掌握其形条件和过程特点有利于减轻自然灾害。     

中国西天山拉尔敦达坂构造解析

拉尔敦达坂一带发育的大型复合式韧性剪切带，经解析分为水平拆离、挤压和岩浆侵入隆升、左行走滑韧性剪切三个不同阶段，变形时限分别限定在早古生代晚期至晚古生代早期、晚泥盆世和二叠-三叠纪。剪切带向东至伊连哈比尔山被“天山主干断裂”截断，向西经北本札尔特河谷的阿登布拉克沟在国境附近的阿拉爱格尔山口附近与邻国“尼古拉耶夫线”相接。该剪切带属南侧塔里木与伊犁-伊塞克两陆块碰撞缝合构造同碰撞期的次级构造带。     

大别山超高压变质岩的变形特征及其地质意义

大别山超高压变质岩至少经过５期变形。第１期产生于榴辉岩相变质前；第２期大致与榴辉岩相变质作用同步．岩石产生紧密同斜褶皱及榴辉岩相糜棱岩；第３期产生于超高压变质岩向中地壳折返的过程中，以榴辉岩的布丁化及基质的透入性剪切为特征；第４期主要形成剪切条带及伸展沿劈理．是大别山碰撞后差异隆升，岩层向南滑脱的结果；最后一期为脆性变形，岩层沿北东向断层产生左行平移。通过超高压变质岩的变形分析，可以了解超高压变质岩形成和折返的构造运动过程。     

造山带弧形构造——西昆仑—帕米尔弧及其预测

对比利牛斯等造山带典型弧形构造的分析表明,弧形构造是造山带尤其是板内碰撞造山带的普遍特征,可分为挤压逆冲-推覆主动型构造和推覆-滑覆被动型弧形构造。西昆仑—帕米尔是与比利牛斯Basque弧在空间形态、运动学及动力学特征等方面一致的挤压逆冲-推覆主动型弧形构造,推测该弧中部存在一巨大的底部低角度逆掩断层并由根部带向北延伸达100多公里,康西瓦断裂(基底缝合带)可能是主根部逆冲断层带。