Upscaling of elastic properties for large scale geomechanical simulations

Large scale geomechanical simulations are being increasingly used to model the compaction of stress dependent reservoirs, predict the long term integrity of under‐ground radioactive waste disposals, and analyse the viability of hot‐dry rock geothermal sites. These large scale simulations require the definition of homogenous mechanical properties for each geomechanical cell whereas the rock properties are expected to vary at a smaller scale. Therefore, this paper proposes a new methodology that makes possible to define the equivalent mechanical properties of the geomechanical cells using the fine scale information given in the geological model. This methodology is implemented on a synthetic reservoir case and two upscaling procedures providing the effective elastic properties of the Hooke's law are tested. The first upscaling procedure is an analytical method for perfectly stratified rock mass, whereas the second procedure computes lower and upper bounds of the equivalent properties with no assumption on the small scale heterogeneity distribution. Both procedures are applied to one geomechanical cell extracted from the reservoir structure. The results show that the analytical and numerical upscaling procedures provide accurate estimations of the effective parameters. Furthermore, a large scale simulation using the homogenized properties of each geomechanical cell calculated with the analytical method demonstrates that the overall behaviour of the reservoir structure is well reproduced for two different loading cases. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluid infiltration during contact metamorphism of interbedded marble and calc-silicate hornfels, Twin Lakes area, central Sierra Nevada, California

Abstract In the Twin Lakes area, central Sierra Nevada, California, most contact metamorphosed marbles contain calcite + dolomite + forsterite ± diopside ± phlogopite ± tremolite, and most calc-silicate hornfelses contain calcite + diopside + wollastonite + quartz ± anorthite ± K-feldspar ± grossular ± titanite. Mineral-fluid equilibria involving calcite + dolomite + tremolite + diopside + forsterite in two marble samples and wollastonite + anorthite + quartz + grossular in three hornfels samples record P± 3 kbar and T± 630° C. Various isobaric univariant assemblages record CO₂-H₂O fluid compositions of χCO₂= 0.61–0.74 in the marbles and χCO₂= 0.11 in the hornfelses. Assuming a siliceous dolomitic limestone protolith consisting of dolomite + quartz ° Calcite ± K-feldspar ± muscovite ± rutile, all plausible prograde reaction pathways were deduced for marble and hornfels on isobaric T-XCO₂ diagrams in the model system K₂O-CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O-CO₂. Progress of the prograde reactions was estimated from measured modes and mass-balance calculations. Time-integrated fluxes of reactive fluid which infiltrated samples were computed for a temperature gradient of 150 °C/km along the fluid flow path, calculated fluid compositions, and estimated reaction progress using the mass-continuity equation. Marbles and hornfelses record values in the range 0.1–3.6 × 10⁴ cm³/cm² and 4.8–12.9 × 10⁴ cm³/cm², respectively. For an estimated duration of metamorphism of 10⁵ years, average in situ metamorphic rock permeabilities, calculated from Darcy's Law, are 0.1–8 × 10^?6 D in the marbles and 10–27 × 10^?6 D in the hornfelses. Reactive metamorphic fluids flowed up-temperature, and were preferentially channellized in hornfelses relative to the marbles. These results appear to give a general characterization of hydrothermal activity during contact metamorphism of small pendants and screens (dimensions ± 1 km or less) associated with emplacement of the Sierra Nevada batholith.     

Contribution of storms to groundwater recharge in the semi‐arid region of Karnataka,India

This paper describes the application of environmental isotopes and injected tracer techniques in estimating the contribution of storms as well as annual precipitation to groundwater recharge and its circulation, in the semi‐arid region of Bagepalli, Kolar district, Karnataka. Environmental isotopes ²H, ¹⁸O and ³H were used to study the effect of storms on the hydrological system, and an isotope balance was used to compute the contribution of a storm component to the groundwater. Some of the groundwater samples collected during the post‐storm periods were highly depleted in stable isotope content with higher deuterium excess relative to groundwater from the pre‐storm periods. Significant variation in deuterium excess in groundwater from the same area, collected in two different periods, indicates the different origin of air masses. The estimated recharge component of a storm event of 600 mm to the groundwater was found to be in the range of 117–165 mm. There was no significant variation in environmental tritium content of post‐storm and pre‐storm groundwater, indicating the fast circulation of groundwater in the system. After completion of the environmental isotope work, an injected radiotracer ³H technique was applied to estimate the direct recharge of total precipitation to the groundwater. The estimated recharge to the groundwater is 33 mm of the 550 mm annual precipitation during 1992. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new stereo‐analytical method for determination of removal blocks in discontinuous rock masses

The paper provides a new stereo‐analytical method, which is a combination of the stereographic method and analytical methods, to separate finite removable blocks from the infinite and tapered blocks in discontinuous rock masses. The methodology has applicability to both convex and concave blocks. Application of the methodology is illustrated through examples. Addition of this method to the existing block theory procedures available in the literature improves the capability of block theory in solving practical problems in rock engineering. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hysteresis‐based analysis of overland metal transport

Introducing a concept of equivalent mass depth of flow, this study describes the phenomenon of non‐point source pollutant (metal) transport for pavement (or overland) flow in analogy with wave propagation in wide open channels. Hysteretic and normal mass rating curves are developed for runoff rate and mass of 12 dissolved and particulate‐bound metal elements (pollutants) using the rainfall‐runoff and water quality data of the 15 × 20 m² instrumented pavement in Cincinnati, USA. Normal mass rating curves developed for easy computation of pollutant load are found to be of a form similar to Manning's, which is valid for open channel flows. Based on the hysteresis analysis, wave types for dissolution and mixing of particulate‐bound metals are identified. The analysis finds that the second‐order partial‐differential equation normally used for metal transport does not have the efficacy to describe fully the strong non‐linear phenomena such as is described for various metal elements by dynamic waves. In addition, the proportionality concept of the popular SCS‐CN concept is extended for determining the potential maximum metal mass M_p of all the 12 elements transported by a rain storm and related to the antecedent dry period (ADP). For the primary metal zinc element, M_p is found to increase with the ADP and vice versa. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vertical structures of PM10 and PM 2.5 and their dynamical character in low atmosphere in Beijing urban areas

The vertical structures and their dynamical character of PM2.5 and PM10 over Beijing urban areas are revealed using the 1 min mean continuous mass concentration data of PM2.5 and PM10 at 8, 100, and 320 m heights of the meteorological observation tower of 325 m at Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAP CAS tower hereafter) on 10―26 August, 2003, as well as the daily mean mass concentration data of PM2.5 and PM10 and the continuous data of CO and NO2 at 8, 100 (low layer), 200 (middle layer), and 320 m (high layer) heights, in combination with the same period meteorological field observation data of the meteorological tower. The vertical distributions of aerosols observed on IAP CAS tower in Beijing can be roughly divided into two patterns: gradually and rapidly decreasing patterns, I.e. The vertical distribution of aerosols in calm weather or on pollution day belongs to the gradually decreasing pattern, while one on clean day or weak cold air day belongs to the rapidly decreasing pattern. The vertical distributive characters of aerosols were closely related with the dynamical/thermal structure and turbulence character of the atmosphere boundary layer. On the clean day, the low layer PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were close to those at 8 m height, while the concentrations rapidly decreased at the high layer, and their values were only one half of those at 8 m, especially, the concentration of PM2.5 dropped even more. On the clean day, there existed stronger turbulence below 150 m, aerosols were well mixed, but blocked by the more stronger inversion layer aloft, and meanwhile, at various heights, especially in the high layer, the horizontal wind speed was larger, resulting in the rapid decrease of aerosol concentration, I.e. Resulting in the obvious vertical difference of aerosol concentrations between the low and high layers. On the pollution day, the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 at the low, middle, and high layers dropped successively by, on average, about 10% for each layer in comparison with those at 8 m height. On pollution days, in company with the low wind speed, there existed two shallow inversion layers in the boundary layer, but aerosols might be, to some extent, mixed below the inversion layer, therefore, on the pollution day the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 dropped with height slowly; and the observational results also show that the concentrations at 320 m height were obviously high under SW and SE winds, but at other heights, the concentrations were not correlated with wind directions. The computational results of footprint analysis suggest that this was due to the fact that the 320 m height was impacted by the pollutants transfer of southerly flow from the southern peripheral heavier polluted areas, such as Baoding, and Shijiazhuang of Hebei Province, Tianjin, and Shandong Province, etc., while the low layer was only affected by Beijing's local pollution source. The computational results of power spectra and periods preliminarily reveal that under the condition of calm weather, the periods of PM10 concentration at various heights of the tower were on the order of minutes, while in cases of larger wind speed, the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 at 320 m height not only had the short periods of minute-order, but also the longer periods of hour order. Consistent with the conclusion previously drawn by Ding et al., that air pollutants at different heights and at different sites in Beijing had the character of "in-phase" variation, was also observed for the diurnal variation and mean diurnal variation of PM2.5 and PM10 at various heights of the tower in this experiment, again confirming the "in-phase" temporal/spatial distributive character of air pollutants in the urban canopy of Beijing. The gentle double-peak character of the mean diurnal variation of PM2.5 and PM10 was closely related with the evident/similar diurnal variation of turbulent momentum fluxes, sensible heat fluxes, and turbulent kinetic energy at various heights in the urban canopy. Besides, under the condition of calm weather, the concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 declined with height slowly, it was 90% of 8 m concentration at the low layer, a little lesser than 90% at the middle layer, and 80% at the high layer, respectively. Under the condition of weak cold air weather, the concentration remarkably dropped with height, it was 70% of 8 m concentration at the low layer, and 20%―30% at the middle and high layers, especially the concentration of PM2.5 was even lower.     

三维激光扫描技术在复杂地质隧道岩体信息获取中的优化

为了更高效、高精度地获取岩体结构面信息,借助三维激光扫描技术,提出并建立一种基于Kriging算子和最小二乘法组合的点云插值方法。首先对获取的隧道点云数据利用单一的最小二乘法进行插值,并以此为基础,结合Kriging算子的适应度函数建立组合插值模型。在利用三维激光扫描仪已获取的某岩溶隧道的原始点云数据的基础上,运用组合模型进行插值处理,以此获取岩体结构面信息,并将组合方法得到的结果与单一的插值方法进行对比,发现组合方法插值效果较好,误差也较小。基于Kriging算法和最小二乘法结合的插值方法,在利用三维激光扫描技术获取岩溶隧道岩体几何信息—结构面产状的过程中能更加精确、全面,并可以用于岩体稳定性评价。     

Nontectonic signals in reprocessed continuous GPS position time series of CMONOC

The nearly nine-year continuous GPS data collected since 1 March 1999 from the Crustal Motion Observation Network of China(CMONOC) were consistently analyzed.Most of the nonlinear movements in the cumulative position time series pro-duced by CMONOC data center disappeared;and more accurate vertical terms and tectonic signals were extracted.Displacements caused by atmospheric pressure loading,nontidal ocean loading,soil moisture mass loading,and snow cover mass loading using the National Centers for Environmental Prediction(NCEP) Reanalysis I/II models and Estimation of the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean(ECCO) data can explain most of the vertical annual terms at many stations,while only parts can be explained at Lhasa and southern coastal sites,indicating that there are some deformation mechanisms that are still unknown or not modeled accurately.The remarkable differences in vertical position time series for short-baseline sites reveal that GPS stations can be greatly affected by lo-cal factors;and attention should be paid when explaining observed GPS velocity vectors.     

基于MapInfo的海量卫星影像管理与分析

实现海量卫星影像资料快速有效的管理,对开展大区域大数据量的生产任务具有重要意义。本文以天绘卫星影像数据为例,介绍通过自编程序读取关键信息,利用MapInfo软件实现海量影像数据快速有效的管理分析,解决现实生产中的难题。     

澜沧江某电站右坝肩复杂岩体质量分类

笔者通过对澜沧江某电站右岸坝肩复杂岩体的成因进行分析,采用岩体质量指数Z并结合水利水电工程围岩分级和RMR分级等岩体分类方法对电站右岸坝肩的复杂岩体进行了综合分类。