Quantification of stability improvement of a dump through biological reclamation

An integrated study on biological stabilisation of a dump slope has indicated that biological reclamation with grass and tree species should be considered for long term stability of this coal mine dump in India. The grasses have greater soil binding capacity and help to control soil erosion and improve dump stability. Native grasses such as Bamboo (Dendrocalmus strictus) and Kashi (Saccharum spontaneum) are the important constituents of grass species which can stabilise the dump slopes. Field observation of growth performance of grasses have indicated that mean grass height, root depth and below-ground root biomass are 185 cm (±68), 45 cm (±5) and 467 g m^–2 (±170), respectively after three years of grass growth on Mudidih overburden dump slope in India. The growth performance of tree species, namely Sisum (Dalbergia sisoo) and Subabool (Leucena lecocephala), in terms of height, diameter increment, below-ground biomass and root depth have shown mean values of 219 cm (±94), 48 mm (±6), 4.0 kg m^–2 (±1.5) and 1 m (±0.1), respectively. This acts as biological fertility which helps in root proliferation and enhancement of dump stability. From the numerical modelling it is suggested that roots of these grass and tree species have significantly enhanced the factor of safety of dump from 1.4 to 1.8 and therefore have a positive role in maintaining long term stability.     

The Evolutionary History of Ore-forming Processes of Metallic Ore Deposits in Northern Guangxi1

Abstract The northern Guangxi region is an important rare metal, rare earth metal and polymetallic metallogenic province. In the region there exist five metallogenic series and two metallogenic subseries, whose metallogenesis shows features of polycyclic spiral evolution throughout the geological history. As far as various cycles are concerned, mantle-derived ore substances were reduced while crust-derived ore substances increased from early to late times; in the whole geological evolutionary history, mantle-derived substances decreased gradually while crust-derived ones increased. Meanwhile ore element associations became more and more varied. In terms of space, mineralization migrated from the old basement outwards, i.e. from west to east during the Precambrian, and from north to south during the Phanerozoic, and again from east to west during the Yanshanian.     

秦岭祁连山昆仑山构造发展史与南北中国板块的拼合

按秦岭祁连山昆仑山发展演化，中国大陆的形成可总结为3阶段板块拼贴“焊合”模型即：中元古代至新元古代早期，原始秦昆洋俯冲—消减，塔里木—华北古陆（北中国板块）与华南洋域新生陆壳（南中国板块）拼贴增生，形成原始中国古陆；震旦纪至志留纪，原始中国古陆裂解，秦祁海洋扩张—俯冲—消减，阿拉善—华北板块（北中国板块）与塔里木、柴达木、华南组成的联合板块（南中国板块）缝合统一，形成古中国板块，泥盆纪至三叠纪早期，古特提斯洋俯冲—消减，藏滇板块（基梅里大陆一部分）与古中国板块碰撞拼贴，滨邻古特提斯洋的中国大陆西南缘（秦祁昆地区）全面皱起，造就中国大陆轮廓；中生代以来，板内超长期继承性汇聚和滨西太平洋边缘构造带、新特提斯—喜马拉雅构造叠加、改造，造就现令中国大陆构造、地势。     

湖相沉积物与全球变化的研究

为预测未来全球的气候变化，必须了解在过去水圈、气圈与生物圈的各自作用以及它们是如何相互影响的。为此，ＩＧＢＰ（国际地圈－生物圈计划）组织了过去全球变化项目（ＰＡＧＥＳ）。湖相沉积物保存着与ＰＡＧＥＳ有关的不同时空尺度的丰富的地球系统历史信息，特别是湖相沉积物包含着可以说明全球气候变化的水圈与生物圈的陆源组分的反应。这种信息对了解影响气候变化的流域是如何发展的至关重要。笔者应用西伯利亚贝加尔湖与中国西北部青海湖作为两个实例，叙述了多学科研究湖相沉积物物理与化学参数，并利用这些参数测定了晚更新世湖区及其流域对过去气圈的变化以及日幅射分布的影响     

西藏高原大地电磁深探测———亚东—巴木错沿线地区壳幔电性结构

摘 要　 展示了超宽频带大地电磁深探测所获得的西藏亚东—巴木错沿线地区电性结构图像; 阐述了西藏中、南部特殊的壳幔电性特征。     

Sedimentational,structural and migmatitic history of the Archaean Dharwar tectonic province,southern India

The earliest decipherable record of the Dharwar tectonic province is left in the 3.3 Ga old gneissic pebbles in some conglomerates of the Dharwar Group, in addition to the 3.3–3.4 Ga old gneisses in some areas. A sialic crust as the basement for Dharwar sedimentation is also indicated by the presence of quartz schists and quartzites throughout the Dharwar succession. Clean quartzites and orthoquartzite-carbonate association in the lower part of the Dharwar sequence point to relatively stable platform and shelf conditions. This is succeeded by sedimentation in a rapidly subsiding trough as indicated by the turbidite-volcanic rock association. Although conglomerates in some places point to an erosional surface at the contact between the gneisses and the Dharwar supracrustal rocks, extensive remobilization of the basement during the deformation of the cover rocks has largely blurred this interface. This has also resulted in accordant style and sequence of structures in the basement and cover rocks in a major part of the Dharwar tectonic province. Isoclinal folds with attendant axial planar schistosity, coaxial open folds, followed in turn by non-coaxial upright folds on axial planes striking nearly N-S, are decipherable both in the “basement” gneisses and the schistose cover rocks. The imprint of this sequence of superposed deformation is registered in some of the charnockitic terranes also, particularly in the Biligirirangan Hills, Shivasamudram and Arakalgud areas. The Closepet Granite, with alignment of feldspar megacrysts parallel to the axial planes of the latest folds in the adjacent schistose rocks, together with discrete veins of Closepet Granite affinity emplaced parallel to the axial planes of late folds in the Peninsular Gneiss enclaves, suggest that this granite is late-tectonic with reference to the last deformation in the Dharwar tectonic province. Enclaves of tonalite and migmatized amphibolite a few metres across, with a fabric athwart to and overprinted by the earliest structures traceable in the supracrustal rocks as well as in a major part of the Peninsular Gneiss, point to at least one deformation, an episode of migmatization and one metamorphic event preceding the first folding in the Dharwar sequence. This record of pre-Dharwar deformation and metamorphism is corroborated also by the pebbles of gneisses and schists in the conglomerates of the Dharwar Group. Volcanic rocks within the Dharwar succession as well as some of the components of the Peninsular Gneiss give ages of about 3.0 Ga. A still younger age of about 2.6 Ga is recorded in some volcanic rocks of the Dharwar sequence, a part of the Peninsular Gneiss, Closepet Granite and some charnockites. These, together with the 3.3 Ga old gneisses and 3.4 Ga old ages of zircons in some charnockites, furnish evidence for three major thermal events during the 700 million year history of the Archaean Dharwar tectonic province.     

埋藏基岩地形对地震波动影响的模拟研究

本文以超声地震模型试验为基础,着重从地震波的强度方面来阐明埋藏基岩地形对地震波动的影响,提出了利用振动能量分析地震动问题的重要性,理论分析及实验结果表明,埋藏基岩地形对地震波动的影响表现为:一方面基岩面凹凸不平,致使基岩面上不同部位接收能量大小不同;另一方面,基岩的凹凸面对地震波产生汇聚与发散作用,这两方面共同作用的结果使得地表不同地点表现出不同的地震动强度。     

寒区渠基黏土热参数最优概率分布

为分析寒区渠基黏土热参数的随机分布特征及概率分布模型,以寒区渠基黏土的导热系数为样本,结合经典分布拟合法、多项式逼近法、最大熵法和正态信息扩散法,分别对寒区渠基黏土热参数的概率分布规律进行了研究。首先通过分析热参数的离散性,并比较概率分布曲线、拟合检验值和累计概率分布值,对不同方法描述热参数随机性的优劣进行了评价;然后,基于寒区渠基黏土热学参数对温度的敏感性,提出了一个可以达到理想拟合精度的寒区渠基黏土热参数概率推断的区间取值标准。研究结果表明：寒区渠基黏土的热参数具有随机变量的特征;正态信息扩散法可以描述热参数样本的随机波动性;在4种方法中,正态信息扩散法的拟合精度最高。使用3.5σ法,将[μ-3.5σ,μ+3.5σ]（μ为随机变量的均值,σ为标准差）作为概率函数推断时的取值区间,同时考虑偏度的影响,可使得累计概率值达到1.000 0的精度,能够较准确地推断热参数的概率分布函数。     

Measurement and Analysis of Thermal Conductivity of Rocks in the Tarim Basin, Northwest China

: As a parameter that describes heat transmission properties of rocks, thermal conductivity is indispensable for studying the thermal regime of sedimentary basins, and retrieving high-quality data of thermal conductivity is the basis for geothermal related studies. The optical scanning method is used here to measure the thermal conductivity of 745 drill-core samples from the Tarim basin, the largest intermontane basin with abundant hydrocarbon potential in China, and water saturation correction is made for clastic rock samples that are of variable porosity. All the measured values, combined with previously published data in this area, are integrated to discuss the distribution characteristics and major controlling factors that affect the thermal conductivity of rocks in the basin. Our results show that the values of thermal conductivity of rocks generally range from 1.500 to 3.000 W/m·K with a mean of 2.304 W/m·K. Thermal conductivity differs considerably between lithological types: the value of a coal sample is found to be the lowest as being only 0.249 W/m·K, while the values for salt rock samples are the highest with a mean of 4.620 W/m·K. Additionally, it is also found that the thermal conductivity of the same or similar lithologic types shows considerable differences, suggesting that thermal conductivity cannot be used for distinguishing the rock types. The thermal conductivity values of mudstone and sandstone generally increase with increasing burial depth and geological age of the formation, reflecting the effect of porosity of rocks on thermal conductivity. In general, the mineral composition, fabric and porosity of rocks are the main factors that affect the thermal conductivity. The research also reveals that the obvious contrast in thermal conductivity of coal and salt rock with other common sedimentary rocks can induce subsurface temperature anomalies in the overlying and underlying formations, which can modify the thermal evolution and maturity of the source rocks concerned. This finding is very important for oil and gas resources assessment and exploration and needs further study in detail. The results reported here are representative of the latest and most complete dataset of thermal conductivity of rocks in the Tarim basin, and will provide a solid foundation for geothermal studies in future.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000594

A new model is suggested for the history of the Baikal Rift,in deviation from the classic two-stage evolution scenario,based on a synthesis of the available data from the Baikal Basin and revised correlation between tectonic-lithological-stratigraphic complexes(TLSC) in sedimentary sections around Lake Baikal and seismic stratigraphic sequences(SSS) in the lake sediments.Unlike the previous models,the revised model places the onset of rifting during Late Cretaceous and comprises three major stages which are subdivided into several substages.The stages and the substages are separated by events of tectonic activity and stress reversal when additional compression produced folds and shear structures.The events that mark the stage boundaries show up as gaps,unconformities,and deformation features in the deposition patterns. The earliest Late Cretaceous-Oligocene stage began long before the India-Eurasia collision in a setting of diffuse extension that acted over a large territory of Asia.The NW-SE far-field pure extension produced an NE-striking half-graben oriented along an old zone of weakness at the edge of the Siberian craton.That was already the onset of rift evolution recorded in weathered lacustrine deposits on the Baikal shore and in a wedge-shaped acoustically transparent seismic unit in the lake sediments.The second stage spanning Late Oligocene-Early Pliocene time began with a stress change when the effect from the Eocene India-Eurasia collision had reached the region and became a major control of its geodynamics.The EW and NE transpression and shear from the collisional front transformed the Late Cretaceous half-graben into a U-shaped one which accumulated a deformed layered sequence of sediments.Rifting at the latest stage was driven by extension from a local source associated with hot mantle material rising to the base of the rifted crust.The asthenospheric upwarp first induced the growth of the Baikal dome and the related change from finer to coarser molasse deposition.With time,the upwarp became a more powerful stress source than the collision,and the stress vector returned to the previous NW-SE extension that changed the rift geometry back to a half-graben. The layered Late Pliocene-Quaternary subaerial tectonic-lithological-stratigraphic and the Quaternary submarine seismic stratigraphic units filling the latest half-graben remained almost undeformed.The rifting mechanisms were thus passive during two earlier stages and active during the third stage. The three-stage model of the rift history does not rule out the previous division into two major stages but rather extends its limits back into time as far as the Maastrichtian.Our model is consistent with geological, stratigraphic,structural,and geophysical data and provides further insights into the understanding of rifting in the Baikal region in particular and continental rifting in general.