Rock fracturing by explosive energy: review of state-of-the-art

A study of the dynamic rock fracture initiation and propagation due to explosive energy is presented through a detailed state-of-the-art review. Explosive energy dissipation in crushing and fracturing is examined and the various means to enhance the explosive energy utilization for dynamic rock fracturing are reviewed. The study highlights the need for a better understanding of the dynamic fracturing process particularly in the presence of in situ stresses in the rock mass.     

A reassessment of models for hydrocarbon generation in the Khibiny nepheline syenite complex, Kola Peninsula, Russia

Although hydrocarbon-bearing fluids have been known from the alkaline igneous rocks of the Khibiny intrusion for many years, their origin remains enigmatic. A recently proposed model of post-magmatic hydrocarbon (HC) generation through Fischer-Tropsch (FT) type reactions suggests the hydration of Fe-bearing phases and release of H₂ which reacts with magmatically derived CO₂ to form CH₄ and higher HCs. However, new petrographic, microthermometric, laser Raman, bulk gas and isotope data are presented and discussed in the context of previously published work in order to reassess models of HC generation. The gas phase is dominated by CH₄ with only minor proportions of higher hydrocarbons. No remnants of the proposed primary CO₂-rich fluid are found in the complex. The majority of the fluid inclusions are of secondary nature and trapped in healed microfractures. This indicates a high fluid flux after magma crystallisation. Entrapment conditions for fluid inclusions are 450–550 °C at 2.8–4.5 kbar. These temperatures are too high for hydrocarbon gas generation through the FT reaction. Chemical analyses of rims of Fe-rich phases suggest that they are not the result of alteration but instead represent changes in magma composition during crystallisation. Furthermore, there is no clear relationship between the presence of Fe-rich minerals and the abundance of fluid inclusion planes (FIPs) as reported elsewhere. δ¹³C values for methane range from − 22.4‰ to − 5.4‰, confirming a largely abiogenic origin for the gas. The presence of primary CH₄-dominated fluid inclusions and melt inclusions, which contain a methane-rich gas phase, indicates a magmatic origin of the HCs. An increase in methane content, together with a decrease in δ¹³C isotope values towards the intrusion margin suggests that magmatically derived abiogenic hydrocarbons may have mixed with biogenic hydrocarbons derived from the surrounding country rocks.     

Anticlockwise evolution of ultrahigh-temperature granulites within continental collision zone in southern India

We report three new localities of corundum and sapphirine-bearing hyper aluminous Mg-rich and silica-poor ultrahigh-temperature granulites formed during Late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian times within the Palghat–Cauvery Shear Zone system in southern India. From petrologic characteristics, mineral chemistry and petrogenetic grid considerations, the peak metamorphic conditions of these rocks are inferred to lie around 950–1000 °C (as suggested by Al in orthopyroxene thermometer) at pressures above 10 kbar (as indicated by the equilibrium orthopyroxene–sillimanite–gedrite ± quartz assemblage). These rocks preserve several remarkable reaction textures, the most prominent among which is the triple corona of spinel–sapphirine–cordierite on corundum, with the whole textural assembly embedded within the matrix of gedrite, suggesting the reaction: Ged + Crn = Spl + Spr + Crd. The formation of sapphirine–sillimanite assemblage/symplectite associated with relict corundum and porphyroblasitc cordierite is explained by the reaction: Crd + Crn = Spr + Sil. The association of sapphirine cordierite symplectite with gedrite–sillimanite assemblage as well as with aluminosilicate boundaries indicates the gedrite consuming reaction: Ged + Sil = Spr + Crd. Extensive growth of sapphirine–cordierite observed on the rim of gedrite porphyroblasts with spinel occurring as relict inclusions within the sapphirine indicates the reaction: Ged + Spl = Spr + Crd. The pressure–temperature (P–T) path defined from the observed mineral assemblages and reaction texture is characterized by anticlockwise trajectory, with a prograde segment of initial heating and subsequent deep burial, followed by retrograde near-isothermal decompression. Such an anticlockwise trajectory is being reported for the first time from southern India and has important tectonic implications since these rocks were developed at the leading edge of the crustal block that was involved in collisional orogeny and subsequent extension during the final phase of assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. We propose that the rocks were subjected to deep subduction and rapid exhumation, and the extreme thermal conditions were attained either through input from underplated mantle-derived magmas, or convective thinning or detachment of the lithospheric thermal boundary layer during or after crustal thickening.     

Application of the QUILF thermobarometer to the peralkaline trachytes and pantellerites of the Eburru volcanic complex, East African Rift, Kenya

The Quaternary Eburru volcanic complex in the south-central Kenya Rift consists of pantelleritic trachytes and pantellerites. The phenocryst assemblage in the trachytes is sanidine + fayalite + ferrohedenbergite + aenigmatite ± quartz ± ilmenite ± magnetite ± pyrrhotite ± pyrite. In the pantellerites, the assemblage is sanidine + quartz + ferrohedenbergite + fayalite + aenigmatite + ferrorichterite + pyrrhotite ± apatite, although fayalite, ferrohedenbergite and ilmenite are absent from more evolved rocks (e.g. with SiO₂ > 71%). QUILF temperature calculations for the trachytes range from 709 to 793 °C and for the pantellerites 668–708 °C, the latter temperatures being among the lowest recorded for peralkaline silicic magmas. The QUILF thermobarometer demonstrates that the Eburru magmas crystallized at relatively low oxidation states (ΔFMQ + 0.5 to − 1.6) for both trachytes and pantellerites. The trachytes and pantellerites evolved along separate liquid lines of descent, the trachytes possibly deriving from a more mafic parent by fractional crystallization and the pantellerites from extreme fractionation of comenditic magmas.     

On the Importance of Geolithological Features for the Estimate of the Site Response: The Case of Catania Metropolitan Area (Italy)

The evaluation of seismic site response in the urban area of Catania was tackled by selecting test areas having peculiar lithological and structural features, potentially favourable to large local amplifications of ground motion. The two selected areas are located in the historical downtown and in the northern part of Catania where the presence of a fault is evident. Site response was evaluated using spectral ratio technique taking the horizontal- to-vertical component ratio of ambient noise. Inferences from microtremor measurements are compared with results from synthetic accelerograms and response spectra computed at all drillings available for this area. Such method is particularly suitable in urban areas where the nature of the outcropping geological units is masked by city growth and anthropic intervention on the surface geology. The microtremor H/V spectral ratios evaluated at soft sites located within the downtown profile tend to be smaller than that usually reported in the literature for such soils. A tendency for amplifications to peaks near 2 Hz is observed only in some sites located on recent alluvial deposits. Evidences for amplifications of site effects (frequency range 4–8 Hz) were observed in the sampling sites located on the fault, with a rapid decrease of spectral amplitude just a few tenths of metres away from the discontinuity. Numerical simulations evidenced the importance of geolithological features at depth levels even greater than 20–30 m. Besides this, the results strongly confirm the importance of the subsurface geological conditions, in the estimate of seismic hazard at urban scale.     

Temperature dependence of large-scale water-retention curves: a case study

A local-scale model for temperature-dependence of water-retention curves may be applicable to large scales. Consideration of this temperature dependence is important for modeling unsaturated flow and transport in the subsurface in numerous cases. Although significant progress has been made in understanding and modeling this temperature effect, almost all the previous studies have been limited to small scales (on the order of several centimeters). Numerical experiments were used to investigate the possibility of extending a local-scale model for the temperature-dependence of water retention curves to large scales (on the order of meters). Temperature effects on large-scale hydraulic properties are of interest in many practical applications. Numerical experiment results indicate that the local-scale model can indeed be applicable to large-scale problems for special porous media with high air entry values. A typical porous medium of this kind is the porous tuff matrix in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the proposed geologic disposal site for national high-level nuclear wastes. Whether this finding can approximately hold for general cases needs to be investigated in future studies.     

Initiation and development of pull-apart basins with Riedel shear mechanism: insights from scaled clay experiments

Typical pull-apart structures were created in scaled clay experiments with a pure strike-slip geometry (Riedel type experiments). A clay slab represents the sedimentary cover above a strike-slip fault in the rigid basement. At an early stage of the development of the deformation zone, synthetic shear fractures (Riedel shears) within the clay slab display dilatational behaviour. With increasing basal displacement the Riedel shears rotate and open further, developing into long, narrow and deep troughs. The shear displacement and the low angle with the prescribed principal basal fault set them apart from tension gashes. At a more evolved stage, synthetic segments (Y-shears) parallel to the basal principal fault develop and accommodate progressive strike-slip deformation. The Y-shears connect the tips of adjacent troughs developed from the earlier Riedel shears, resulting in the typical rhomb-shaped structures characteristic for pull-apart basins. The Strait of Sicily rift zone, with major strike-slip systems being active from the Miocene to the Present, comprises pull-apart basins at different length scales, for which the structural record suggests development by a mechanism similar to that observed in our experiments.     

Formation of iron-containing colloids by the weathering of phyllite

The formation of colloids during the weathering of phyllite was investigated by exposing ground phyllite to Milli-Q water. Secondary mineral colloids of 10¹–10² nm were detected in significant concentrations. At pH of about 8.5, the solution concentration of these colloids reached up to 10 mg/L (however, acidification to pH 4.0 prevented the formation of the colloids). The mineralogical composition of the secondary mineral colloids is assumed to be a mixture of ferrihydrite, manganese oxyhydroxides, aluminosilicates, amorphous Al(OH)₃ and gibbsite with possible additions of iron silicates and␣iron-alumino silicates. The colloids were stable over longer periods of time (at least several weeks), even in the presence of suspended ground rock. Direct formation of iron-containing secondary mineral colloids at the rock–water interface by the weathering of rock material is an alternative to the well-known mechanism of iron colloid formation in the bulk of water bodies by mixing of different waters or by aeration of anoxic waters. This direct mechanism is of relevance for colloid production during the weathering of freshly crushed rock in the unsaturated zone as for instance crushed rock in mine waste rock piles. Colloids produced by this mechanism, too, can influence the transport of contaminants such as actinides because these colloids have a large specific surface area and a high sorption affinity.     

Diurnal Variations of Hydrochemistry in a Travertine-depositing Stream at Baishuitai, Yunnan, SW China

Diurnal variations of hydrochemistry were monitored at a spring and two pools in a travertine-depositing stream at Baishuitai, Yunnan, SW China. Water temperature, pH and specific conductivity were measured in intervals of 5 and 30 min for periods of 1 to 2 days. From these data the concentrations of Ca²⁺, HCO₃⁻, calcite saturation index, and CO₂ partial pressure were derived. The measurements in the spring of the stream did not show any diurnal variations in the chemical composition of the water. Diurnal variations, however, were observed in the water of the two travertine pools downstream. In one of them, a rise in temperature (thus more CO₂ degassing) during day time and consumption of CO₂ due to photosynthesis of submerged aquatic plants accelerated deposition of calcite, whereas in the other pool, where aquatic plants flourished and grew out of the water (so photosynthesis was taking place in the atmosphere), the authors suggest that temperature-dependent root respiration underwater took place, which dominated until noon. Consequently, due to the release of CO₂ by the root respiration into water, which dominated CO₂ production by degassing induced by temperature increase, the increased dissolution of calcite was observed. This is the first time anywhere at least in China that the effect of root respiration on diurnal hydrochemical variations has been observed. The finding has implications for sampling strategy within travertine-depositing streams and other similar environments with stagnant water bodies such as estuaries, lakes, reservoirs, pools and wetlands, where aquatic plants may flourish and grow out of water.