A note on “Origin of components in Chilean thermal waters” by

Risacher et al. (2011) have presented voluminous data on thermal waters of Chile that is quite appreciable; however, their work still falls short on several counts. The most notable shortcoming of the work is the presentation and treatment of data. The interpretations are based on questionable premises (viz., extent of seawater intrusion) and considerations (viz., using average chemical composition of rock types for geochemical modeling, considering volcanic rocks as the only rock type in contact with the geothermal fluids) and assumptions not always substantiated by facts (with proper references) could have been corroborated. Use of Cl/Br ratio for discrimination purpose is unconvincing, considering the uncertainty in the measurement of low (<1 mg/L) Br concentration.     

Geochemistry of Paraná-Etendeka basalts from Misiones,Argentina: Some new insights into the petrogenesis of high-Ti continental flood basalts

The Early Cretaceous (∼135–131 Ma) Paraná-Etendeka continental flood basalts, preserved in bulk in the Paraná basin of southern Brazil and vicinity, have been divided into low-Ti and high-Ti types that govern the southern and northern halves of the basin, respectively. We have examined a new sample set from the southern margin of the northern high-Ti segment of Paraná basalts in Misiones, northeastern Argentina. These basalts are strongly to moderately enriched in TiO₂ (2–4 wt.%), have relatively high Ti/Y (300–500), low MgO (3.5–6.5 wt.%), and high Fe (FeO(tot) 12–14 wt.%) and belong to the Pitanga and Paranapanema magma types of Peate et al. (1992). Nd and Sr isotope compositions are quite unvarying with ε_Nd (at 133 Ma) values of −4.6 to −3.6 and initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of 0.7054–0.7059 and show no variation with fractionation. Compared to high-Ti lavas in the central and northern parts of the Paraná high-Ti basalt segment, the lavas from Misiones are similar to those in the northeastern magin of the basin but less radiogenic in initial Nd isotope composition than those in the central part. This variation probably reflects mixed EM1-EM2 source components in the sublithospheric mantle. A polybaric melt model of a sublithospheric mantle source at the garnet lherzolite-spinel lherzolite transition is compatible with the observed Ti budget of the Pitanga and Paranapanema lavas, regardless of the Nd isotope composition of their purported source.     

Modification of strain wedge method for lateral soil-pile interaction in sandEI北大核心CSCD

A modified strain wedge (SW) method for analyzing the behavior of laterally loaded single piles in sand is proposed. The modified model assumes that the lateral displacements of a pile behind the three-dimensional passive soil wedge are nonlinear, which makes the horizontal soil strain variable with depths instead of a constant value in the original strain wedge model, and also employs two different hyperbolic models, one for describing horizontal stress increment-strain behavior of soil in the wedge, and the other for describing the shear stress-displacement property at the interface between soil and pile shafts. An example is analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the modified method, and a good agreement is obtained. Finally, the effects of modifications on the lateral bearing capacity of pile shafts are discussed. The results show that the problem of overestimating the lateral bearing capacity of piles with strain wedge method can be ameliorated by introducing the assumption of nonlinear lateral displacements of piles. It makes the SW method more convenient and effective in analyzing the behavior of laterally loaded piles by introducing the new relationships of horizontal stress increment-strain and shear stress-displacement.     

Characteristics and Origin of Tight Oil Accumulations in the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation of the Ordos Basin, North-Central China

The Upper Triassic oil accumulations in the Ordos Basin is the most successful tight oil play in China,with average porosity values of less than 10% and permeability values below 1.0 mD.This study investigated the geological characteristics and origin of the tight oil accumulations in the Chang 6 member of the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation in the Shanbei area based on over 50,000 petrological,source-rock analysis,well logging and production data.The tight oil accumulation of the Chang 6 member is distributed continuously in the basin slope and the centre of the basin.The oilwater relationships are complex.Laumontite dissolution pores are the most important storage spaces,constituting 30%-60% of total porosity and showing a strong positive relationship with oil production.The pore-throat diameter is less than 1 μm,and the calculated critical height of the oil column is much larger than the tight sand thickness,suggesting that the buoyancy was probably of limited importance for oil migration.The pressure difference between the source rocks and sandstone reservoirs is inferred to have provided driving force for hydrocarbon migration.Two factors of source-reservoir configuration and laumontite dissolution contributed to the formation of the Chang 6 tight oil accumulations.Intense hydrocarbon generation and continuous sand bodies close to the hydrocarbon kitchen are the foundation for the large-scale oil distribution.Dissolution of feldspar-laumontite during the process of organic matter evolution generated abundant secondary pores and improved the reservoir quality.     

Numerical implementation of the installation/mooring line and application to analyzing comprehensive anchor behaviors

With the application of innovative anchor concepts and advanced technologies in deepwater moorings, anchor behaviors in the seabed are becoming more complicated and pose a great challenge to the analytical methods. In the present work, a large deformation finite element (FE) analysis employing the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian technique is performed to simulate the installation/mooring line, and then is applied to analyzing comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed. By connecting cylindrical units with each other using connector elements, the installation/mooring line is constructed. With the constructed installation/mooring line, FE simulations are carried out to investigate comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed, including long-distance penetration of drag anchors, keying of suction embedded plate anchors and non-catastrophic behavior of gravity-installed anchors. Through comparative studies, the accuracy of the proposed method is well examined. A parametric study is also undertaken to quantify the effects of the frictional coefficient, initial embedment depth, and soil weight on the profile of the embedded anchor line and the shackle load. The present work demonstrates that the proposed FE model, which incorporates the installation/mooring line and the anchor, is effective in analyzing the comprehensive anchor behaviors in the seabed.     

Experimental and theoretical study of a cylindrical oscillating water column device with a quadratic power take-off model

The wave power extraction by a cylindrical oscillating water column (OWC) device with a quadratic power take-off (PTO) model was studied experimentally and theoretically. In the experiment, a scaled model OWC was tested in a wave flume, with an orifice being used to simulate a quadratic PTO mechanism. In the theoretical analysis, the quadratic PTO model was linearized based on Lorenz's principle of equivalent work, which allows us to perform a frequency domain analysis using an eigen-function matching method. The effects of higher harmonic components and the spatial non-uniformity of the surface velocity inside the chamber were discussed. A semi-analytical model was proposed to understand the viscous loss affecting the measured capture length. Our treatment of the quadratic PTO model was validated by comparing quasi-linear theoretical capture length and the laboratory measurement. Our results also showed that the effects of spatial non-uniformity and viscous loss could be noticeable for shorter waves.     

Controls on reservoir heterogeneity of tight sand oil reservoirs in Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation in Longdong Area,southwest Ordos Basin,China: Implications for reservoir quality prediction and oil accumulation

Compared to conventional reservoirs, pore structure and diagenetic alterations of unconventional tight sand oil reservoirs are highly heterogeneous. The Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation is a major tight-oil-bearing formation in the Ordos Basin, providing an opportunity to study the factors that control reservoir heterogeneity and the heterogeneity of oil accumulation in tight oil sandstones.The Chang 8 tight oil sandstone in the study area is comprised of fine-to medium-grained, moderately to well-sorted lithic arkose and feldspathic litharenite. The reservoir quality is extremely heterogeneous due to large heterogeneities in the depositional facies, pore structures and diagenetic alterations. Small throat size is believed to be responsible for the ultra-low permeability in tight oil reservoirs. Most reservoirs with good reservoir quality, larger pore-throat size, lower pore-throat radius ratio and well pore connectivity were deposited in high-energy environments, such as distributary channels and mouth bars. For a given depositional facies, reservoir quality varies with the bedding structures. Massive- or parallel-bedded sandstones are more favorable for the development of porosity and permeability sweet zones for oil charging and accumulation than cross-bedded sandstones.Authigenic chlorite rim cementation and dissolution of unstable detrital grains are two major diagenetic processes that preserve porosity and permeability sweet zones in oil-bearing intervals. Nevertheless, chlorite rims cannot effectively preserve porosity-permeability when the chlorite content is greater than a threshold value of 7%, and compaction played a minor role in porosity destruction in the situation. Intensive cementation of pore-lining chlorites significantly reduces reservoir permeability by obstructing the pore-throats and reducing their connectivity. Stratigraphically, sandstones within 1 m from adjacent sandstone-mudstone contacts are usually tightly cemented (carbonate cement > 10%) with low porosity and permeability (lower than 10% and 0.1 mD, respectively). The carbonate cement most likely originates from external sources, probably derived from the surrounding mudstone. Most late carbonate cements filled the previously dissolved intra-feldspar pores and the residual intergranular pores, and finally formed the tight reservoirs.The petrophysical properties significantly control the fluid flow capability and the oil charging/accumulation capability of the Chang 8 tight sandstones. Oil layers usually have oil saturation greater than 40%. A pore-throat radius of less than 0.4 μm is not effective for producible oil to flow, and the cut off of porosity and permeability for the net pay are 7% and 0.1 mD, respectively.     

A late Holocene winter monsoon record inferred from the palaeo-aeolian sand dune in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, northern China

The variation of the Asian winter monsoonal strength has seriously affected the climate and environmental conditions in the Asian monsoonal region, and even in marginal islands and the ocean in the East Asian region. However, relevant understanding remains unclear due to the lack of suitable geological materials and effective proxies in the key study areas. Here, we present a grain-size record derived from the palaeo-aeolian sand dune in the southeastern Mu Us Desert, together with other proxies and OSL dating, which reflect a relatively detailed history of the winter monsoon and abrupt environmental events during the past 4.2 ka. Our grain-size standard deviation model indicated that >224 μm content can be considered as an indicator of the intensity of Asian winter monsoon, and it shows declined around 4.2-2.1 ka, enhanced but unstable in 2.1-0.9 ka, and obviously stronger since then. In addition, several typical climate events were also documented, forced by the periodic variation of winter monsoonal intensity. These include the cold intervals of 4.2, 2.8, 1.4 ka, and the Little Ice Age (LIA), and relatively warm sub-phases around 3.0, 2.1, 1.8 ka, and the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), which were roughly accordant with the records of the aeolian materials, peat, stalagmites, ice cores, and sea sediments in various latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Combined with the previous progresses of the Asian summer monsoon, we preliminarily confirmed a millennial-scale anti-correlation of Asian winter and summer monsoons in the Late Holocene epoch. This study suggests that the evolution of the palaeo-aeolian sand dune has the potential for comprehending the history of Asian monsoon across the desert regions of the modern Asian monsoonal margin in northern China.     

Uncertainty analysis of space–time prisms based on the moment-design method

Space–time prism (STP) is an important concept for the modeling of object movements in space and time. An STP can be conceptualized as the result of the potential path of a moving object revolving around in the three-dimensional space. Though the concept has found applications in time geography, research on the analysis and propagation of uncertainty in STPs, particularly under high degree of nonlinearity, is scanty. Based on the efficiency and effectiveness of the moment-design (M-D) method, this paper proposes an approach to deal with nonlinear error propagation problems in the potential path areas (PPAs) of STPs and their intersections. Propagation of errors to the PPA and its boundary, and to the intersection of two PPAs is investigated. Performance of the proposed method is evaluated via a series of experimental studies. In comparison with the Monte Carlo method and the implicit function method, simulation results show the advantages of the M-D method in the analysis of error propagation in STPs.     

Effects of Mudstone Particle Content on Shear Strength of a Crushed Sandstone–Mudstone Particle Mixture

The present study focuses on the shear strength, deformation, and particle crushing of sand which is mixed by crushed sandstone and mudstone particles. Two triaxial tests—one for unsaturated specimens and the other for saturated specimens—were performed, along with sieve analysis tests. Results obtained from the triaxial tests indicate that, with the increment of the mudstone particle content by weight, the angle of internal friction decreases, the cohesion increases and then decreases, and both the initial angle of shearing resistance at the atmospheric pressure and decremental angle increase and then decrease. Compared to the unsaturated specimens, the deviator stress or normalized deviator stress of the saturated specimens at the same axial stress may decrease due to the wetting action. Thus, the shear strength of the tested materials may be reduced by the wetting action. Results of sieve analysis tests indicate that the mixing of some mudstone particles into the sandstone particle mixture may reduce the amount of particle crushing, but the wetting action may increase the amount. The amount of the crushed particle may arrive at a minimum of 40% of mudstone particle content by weight.