Micro-and submicrostructural evidence for high-temperature brittle-ductile transition deformation of hornblende: Case study of high-grade mylonites from Diancangshan, western Yunnan

OM (optical microscope)/TEM (transmission electron microscope) micro- and submicrostructural analysis of hornblende rocks sheared at high temperatures from the Diancangshan area, western Yunnan reveals evidence for deformation in the brittle-ductile transition of hornblende at middle crustal level (about 637℃ and 0.653 GPa) and mechanisms of deformation in the transitional regime are further discussed. Sheared hornblende rocks at middle crustal level have typical mylonitic microstructures, shown by coarse porphyroclasts and fine matrix grains. Different mineral phases in the rocks show distinct deformation characteristics. Hornblende and feldspar grains are intensely deformed with ob- vious grainsize reduction, but quartz grains are recrystallized dominantly by grain growth. Hornblende grains show typical brittle-ductile transition nature. Initial crystallographic orientations of porphyro- clasts have strong effects on the behavior of grains during deformation. There are mainly two types of porphyroclasts, type I "hard" porphyroclasts and type II "soft" porphyroclasts, with [001] perpendicular and parallel to external shear stresses respectively. "Hard" porphyroclasts generally occur as compe- tent grains that are rarely deformed or sometimes deformed by fracturing and dislocation tangling. "Soft" porphyroclasts are highly deformed primarily by dislocation tangling (as shown in the cores of the porphyroclasts), but twinning, dislocation glide and climb probably due to hydrolytic weakening also contribute to dynamic recrystallization of the porphyroclasts into fine grains in the matrix. The micro- and submicrostructures of the two types of porphyroclasts and fine-grained matrix provide powerful evidence for the behavior of brittle-ductile transition of hornblende grains. It is concluded that twinning nucleation is one of the most important processes that operate during dynamic recrystalliza- tion of hornblende crystals at the brittle-ductile transition. (100) [001] twin gliding and dislocation creep (dislocation glide and climb) are mutually enhanced during twinning nucleation. As a newly discovered mechanism of dynamic recrystallization, it may have played more important roles than ever recognized during dynamic recrystallization of crystals with twins in the brittle-ductile transition.     

Earthquake source nucleation as self organization process

The theory of an earthquake source nucleation is discussed. Based on the assumption that self organization of damage process takes place in the zone of an earthquake source nucleation the theory incorporates the damage rheology framework of Lyakhovsky et al. and the approach of phenomenology theory of second-order phase transition. Namely, the free energy governing the process of an earthquake source nucleation depends on two collective variables α and φ in addition to the strain tensor ε_ij. The variable α quantifies the fracture of the medium and the variable φ quantifies the interaction effect of cracks. The region Ω_S is associated with a potential source of an earthquake if the damage variable α exceeds the critical value α_cr⁽¹⁾ inside Ω_S. The important feature of a potential source is that interaction of fractures causes acceleration of damage process inside the region of potential source and the material should lose stability primarily in this region. Interaction of fractures results also in occurrence of a residual stress caused by nonuniformity of fracture density. The appearance and development of the potential source result in increase of intensity of damage process not only in the region of potential source but also in a certain neighborhood of the last. It is compatible with such observed effects as acceleration of seismic energy release and growth of correlation length of weak seismicity before large earthquake. Transition of potential source to the stage of avalanche-unstable fracturing is associated with instability generated by explosive increase of interaction of fractures when the damage variable α exceeds the second critical value α_cr⁽²⁾ inside Ω_S.     

Numerical quantification of sources and phase partitioning of chemical species in cloud: application to wintertime anthropogenic air masses at the Puy de Dôme station

The Model of Multiphase Cloud Chemistry M2C2 has recently been extended to account for nucleation scavenging of aerosol particles in the cloud water chemical composition. This extended version has been applied to multiphase measurements available at the Puy de Dôme station for typical wintertime anthropogenic air masses. The simulated ion concentrations in cloud water are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. The analysis of the sources of the chemical species in cloud water shows an important contribution from nucleation scavenging of particles which prevails for nitrate, sulphate and ammonium. Moreover, the simulation shows that iron, which comes only from the dissolution of aerosol particles in cloud water, has a significant contribution in the hydroxyl radical production. Finally, the simulated phase partitioning of chemical species in cloud are compared with measurements. Numerical results show an underestimation of interstitial particulate phase fraction with respect to the measurements, which could be due to an overestimation of activated mass by the model. However, the simulated number scavenging efficiency of particles agrees well with the measured value of 40% of total number of aerosol particles activated in cloud droplets. Concerning the origin of chemical species in cloud water, the model reproduces quite well the contribution of gas and aerosol scavenging estimated from measurements. In addition, the simulation provides the contribution of in-cloud chemical reactivity to cloud water concentrations.     

Molecular simulation studies on natural gas hydrates nucleation and growth: A review

How natural gas hydrates nucleate and grow is a crucial scientific question. The research on it will help solve practical problems encountered in hydrate accumulation, development, and utilization of hydrate related technology. Due to its limitations on both spatial and temporal dimensions, experiment cannot fully explain this issue on a micro-scale. With the development of computer technology, molecular simulation has been widely used in the study of hydrate formation because it can observe the nucleation and growth process of hydrates at the molecular level. This review will assess the recent progresses in molecular dynamics simulation of hydrate nucleation and growth, as well as the enlightening significance of these developments in hydrate applications. At the same time, combined with the problems encountered in recent hydrate trial mining and applications, some potential directions for molecular simulation in the research of hydrate nucleation and growth are proposed, and the future of molecular simulation research on hydrate nucleation and growth is prospected.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office.     

多组分有机质作用下碳酸钙的矿化现象

采用SEM、XRD、FT-IR等手段对氨基酸、多糖以及有机酸混合体系中形成的碳酸钙晶体进行了表征,进而比较了多组分有机质作用下碳酸钙的矿化现象。结果表明,氨基酸-单糖体系(A-M)促进了碳酸钙的沉积,其钙化速率相较于对照组提高了36%;有机酸则抑制了碳酸钙的沉积,单糖-有机酸体系(M-O)、氨基酸-有机酸体系(A-O)和氨基酸-有机酸-单糖体系(A-O-M)的钙化速率分别下降了33%、29%、17%。其次,A-M体系合成的晶体以方解石为主,包含少量的球霰石,M-O、A-O和A-O-M体系则在柠檬酸的调控下合成了方解石。最后,A-M体系合成了块状晶体(粒径为10μm)及中空的环状晶体(粒径为5μm),而A-O和M-O体系合成了棒状晶体(长轴径5～15μm,短轴径3～5μm)。A-O-M体系存在含量最高的有机质,导致成核速率高于生长速率,因此合成的晶体呈粒状(粒径1～3μm)且发育不完整。研究揭示了多组分共存体系中的生物矿化现象,阐明了柠檬酸在多组分体系中对晶体成核及生长的主导调控作用,对研究黄龙高寒环境下的生物矿化机制具有重要意义。     

水热条件下富层状硅酸盐矿物糜棱岩的摩擦特性实验研究

为探索断层岩石摩擦特性对于断层力学性质的影响,我们采集了龙门山汶茂断裂韧性剪切带中的富含层状硅酸盐矿物的糜棱岩样品进行了水热条件下摩擦滑动实验研究.实验在三轴压机之上完成,实验温度为100~600℃,有效正压力100MPa,孔隙水压分别为30MPa和130MPa.为获得摩擦滑动的稳定性参数(a-b),剪切滑移速率在1.22μm·s-1,0.244μm·s-1和0.0488μm·s-1之间切换.实验发现在200~500℃的温度范围内,摩擦系数随着温度的增加而显著增大(约0.56~0.72).在200~300℃范围内,随温度的升高糜棱岩的摩擦滑动表现出由稳定的速度强化向不稳定速度弱化转变的趋势.在有效正压力不变的情况下,孔隙水压的增大会促进糜棱岩的摩擦滑动在500~600℃温度范围内由不稳定的速度弱化向稳定的速度强化的转变.实验给出的断层在原地深度处的脆性和塑性变形机制的转变,有助于理解断层深部的地震成核机制以及成核的温压条件.     

与地震预测有关的关键物理问题

本文介绍与当前地震预测/预报研究密切相关的若干关键物理问题,它们包括断层带结构、应力变化问题、统一考虑"静地震"、"慢地震"、蠕变与天然地震的宏观地震行为、地震的"成核"以及地震作为复杂系统的性质等问题的研究进展以及相关研究面临的机遇与挑战。未来通过对相关物理问题开展有针对性的观测、实验室实验和理论研究将极大地促进中国地震科学基础研究和地震预报的进一步发展。     

Numerical Simulation of Earthquake Nucleation Process and Seismic Precursors on Faults

To understand precursory phenomena before seismic fault sliP,this work focuses onearthquake nucleation process on a fault plane through numerical simulation.Rate and statedependent friction law with variable normal stress is employed in the analysis.The resultsshow that in the late stage of nucleation process:(1)The maximum slip velocity ismonotonically accelerating;(2)The slipping hot spot(where the slip rate is maximum)migrates spontaneously from a certain instant,and such migration is spatially continuous;(3)When the maximum velocity reaches a detectable order of magnitude(at least one orderof magnitude greater than the loading rate),the remaining time is 20 hours or longer,andthe temporal variation of slip velocity beyond this point may be used as a precursoryindicator;(4)The average slip velocity is related to the remaining time by a log-log linearrelation,which means that a similar relation between rate of microseismicity and remainingtime may also exist;(5)when normal stress variation is taken int     

Using the match-and-locate method to characterize foreshocks of the July 2019 MW6.4 Ridgecrest,California earthquake

The July 2019 M_W6.4 Ridgecrest, California earthquake and its distinct foreshocks were well recorded by local and regional stations, providing a great opportunity to characterize its foreshocks and investigate the nucleation mechanisms of the mainshock. In this study, we utilized the match-and-locate (M&L) method to build a high-precision foreshock catalog for this M_W6.4 earthquake. Compared with the sequential location methods (matched-filter + cross-correlation-based hypoDD), our new catalog contains more events with higher location accuracy. The M_W6.4 mainshock was preceded by 40 foreshocks within ～2 h (on July 4, 2019 from 15:35:29 to 17:32:52, UTC). Their spatiotemporal distribution revealed a complex seismogenic structure consisting of multiple fault strands, which were connected as a throughgoing fault by later foreshocks and eventually accommodated the 2019 M_W6.4 mainshock. To better understand the nucleation mechanism, we determined the rupture dimension of the largest M_L4.0 foreshock by calculating its initial rupture and centroid points using the M&L method. By estimating Coulomb stress change we suggested that the majority of foreshocks following the M_L4.0 event and M_W6.4 mainshock occurred within regions of increasing Coulomb stress, indicating that they were triggered by stress transfer. The nucleation process before the M_L4.0 event remains unclear due to the insufficient sampling rate of waveforms and small magnitude of events. Thus, our study demonstrates that the M&L method has superior detection and location ability, showing potential for studies that require high-precision location (e.g., earthquake nucleation).     

热液矿床矿物微形貌与晶体生长环境研究

应用高分辨率扫描隧道显微镜(STM)和场效应扫描电镜(FEG SEM),对取自山西义兴寨金矿等4处热液矿床的黄铁矿、方铅矿、赤铁矿等矿物的表面生长微形貌进行了观察研究,并与实验合成的黄铁矿、方铅矿等矿物的微形貌特征进行对比。发现了自然矿物结晶三维成核成因的黄铁矿微球状晶,在合成和自然矿物的晶面观察到漏斗状晶和胞状结构等生长形貌。合成黄铁矿表面发育平整光滑的生长台阶,反映静态无扰动、接近平衡的晶体生长环境;而大量产于热液矿床的黄铁矿、方铅矿等晶体普遍发育胞状或拉长的胞状结构表面,并总体呈台阶状排列的表面结构,证明自然成矿热液体系的高过饱和度和流动生长环境。研究表明,热液成矿过程中矿物结晶作用有从成核、台阶状晶体生长、到形成“平衡”多面体生长的一个演化过程;形成于复杂条件的矿物晶体表面微观结构,包含丰富的成矿环境信息。