Production of carbonate and silica nano-particles in stirred bead milling

This paper presents the experimental results of the mechanical production of silica and carbonate colloidal particles below 100 nm using two types of stirred bead mills (i.e., DCP Superflow 12 and PML H/V). It is shown that the stirred bead mill with very small beads can be used as an efficient equipment for the production of the colloidal particles in nanoscale from the feed materials of several microns in sizes at high energy consumptions. The DCP Superflow mill with high power densities is superior for the effective size reduction and production rate, compared to the conventional PML H/V mill with lower power densities. The smaller particles could be produced by the DCP Superflow mill at the same level of high energy inputs as from the PML H/V mill. The “grinding limit” for the processes in the mills has been discussed.     

Decarbonation reaction of magnesite in subducting slabs at the lower mantle

High-pressure and temperature experiments (28–62 GPa, and 1,490–2,000 K, corresponding to approximately 770–1,500 km depth in the mantle) have been conducted on a MgCO₃ + SiO₂ mixture using a laser-heated diamond anvil cell combined with analytical transmission electron microscope observation of the product phases to constrain the fate of carbonates carried on the subducting basalt into the lower mantle. At these conditions, the decarbonation reaction MgCO₃ (magnesite) + SiO₂ (stishovite) → MgSiO₃ (perovskite) + CO₂ (solid) has been recognized. This indicates that above reaction takes place as a candidate for decarbonation of the carbonated subducting mid ocean ridge basalts in the Earth’s lower mantle.     

测井资料在碳酸盐岩储层评价中的应用

以塔河油田碳酸盐岩储集层基本特征为依据，利用常规和能谱测井资料信息比值法和重叠法等技术．致力于储集层缝、孔、洞测井响应特征敏感性评价研究，从中提取8项储层敏感性参数，并对其进行综合评判，确定出划分储层类别的标准，经过50口井的测试资料验证，采用多参数综合评判来划分储层类别是可行的，对储层的评价效果较好，使常规测井资料得到了更深入、广泛的应用。     

火星生命研究的进展与前景

关于火星是否存在或曾经存在生命的争论由来已久。有人以ALH84001火星陨石新鲜破裂面上的大量碳酸盐小球体和多环芳香烃（PAHs）为主要依据，推论火星至少在13～36亿 aBP前很可能有生命形态存在。然而，很多人认为ALH84001陨石的各种特性可以是非生物成因的。由于地球上的生物在超过115℃的温度下很难存活（火星可与之类比），争论的焦点逐渐集中在碳酸盐球体的形成温度上。也有研究者关注该陨石上有机物质的来源问题。对ALH84001陨石的综合学科研究提出了互相矛盾的证据。综述了自1996年以来在国外各种主要期刊上发表的关于 ALH84001陨石与火星生命的研究成果（也包括了一些对其他火星陨石的研究），认为目前尚不能断言火星生命存在与否。对火星继续深入探索以获取进一步的证据是十分必要的。以美国国家航空和宇航局（NASA）Odys sey宇宙飞船起始的火星探测计划将引发新一轮火星生命研究的热潮。     

Carbonate platform evolution: from a bioconstructed platform margin to a sand-shoal system (Devonian, Guilin, South China)

ABSTRACT The depositional organization and architecture of the middle–late Devonian Yangdi rimmed carbonate platform margin in the Guilin area of South China were related to oblique, extensional faulting in a strike‐slip setting. The platform margin shows two main stages of construction in the late Givetian to Frasnian, with a bioconstructed margin evolving into a sand‐shoal system. In the late Givetian, the platform margin was rimmed with microbial buildups composed mainly of cyanobacterial colonies (mostly Renalcis and Epiphyton). These grew upwards and produced an aggradational (locally slightly retrogradational) architecture with steep foreslope clinoforms. Three depositional sequences (S3–S5) are recognized in the upper Givetian strata, which are dominated by extensive microbialites. Metre‐scale depositional cyclicity occurs in most facies associations, except in the platform‐margin buildups and upper foreslope facies. In the latest Givetian (at the top of sequence S5), relative platform uplift (± subaerial exposure) and associated rapid basin subsidence (probably a block‐tilting effect) caused large‐scale platform collapse and slope erosion to give local scalloped embayments along the platform margin and the synchronous demise of microbial buildups. Subsequently, sand shoals and banks composed of ooids and peloids and, a little later, stromatoporoid buildups on the palaeohighs, developed along the platform margin, from which abundant loose sediment was transported downslope to form gravity‐flow deposits. Another strong tectonic episode caused further platform collapse in the early Frasnian (at the top of sequence S6), leading to large‐scale breccia release and the death of the stromatoporoid buildups. Siliceous facies (banded cherts and siliceous shales) were then deposited extensively in the basin centre as a result of the influx of hydrothermal fluids. The platform‐margin sand‐shoal/bank system, possibly with gullies on the slope, persisted into the latest Frasnian until the restoration of microbial buildups. Four sequences (S6–S9), characterized by abundant sand‐shoal deposits on the margin and gravity‐flow and hemipelagic deposits on the slope, are distinguished in the Frasnian strata. Smaller‐scale depositional cyclicity is evident in all facies associations across the platform–slope–basin transect. The distinctive depositional architecture and evolution of this Yangdi Platform are interpreted as having been controlled mainly by regional tectonics with contributions from eustasy, environmental factors, oceanographic setting, biotic and sedimentary fabrics.     

Fluid-bearing alkaline carbonate melts as the medium for the formation of diamonds in the Earth''s mantle: an experimental study

We have experimentally studied the formation of diamonds in alkaline carbonate–carbon and carbonate–fluid–carbon systems at 5.7–7.0 GPa and 1150–1700 °C, using a split-sphere multi-anvil apparatus (BARS). The starting carbonate and fluid-generating materials were placed into Pt and Au ampoules. The main specific feature of the studied systems is a long period of induction, which precedes the nucleation and growth of diamonds. The period of induction considerably increases with decreasing P and T, but decreases when adding a C–O–H fluid to the system. In the range of P and T corresponding to the formation of diamonds in nature, this period lasts for tens of hours. The reactivity of the studied systems with respect to the diamond nucleation and growth decreases in this sequence: Na₂CO₃–H₂C₂O₄·2H₂O–C>K₂CO₃–H₂C₂O₄·2H₂O–C>>Na₂CO₃–C>K₂CO₃–C. The diamond morphology is independent of P and T, and is mainly governed by the composition of the crystallization medium. The stable growth form is a cubo-octahedron in the Na₂CO₃ melt, and an octahedron in the K₂CO₃ melt. Regardless of the composition of the carbonate melt, only octahedral diamond crystals formed in the presence of the C–O–H fluid. The growth rates of diamond varied in the range from 1.7 μm/h at 1420 °C to 0.1–0.01 μm/h at 1150 °C, and were used to estimate, for the first time, the possible duration of the crystallization of natural diamonds. From the analysis of the experimental results and the petrological evidence for the formation of diamonds in nature, we suggest that fluid-bearing alkaline carbonate melts are, most likely, the medium for the nucleation and growth of diamonds in the Earth's upper mantle.     

Predicting average annual groundwater levels from climatic variables: an empirical model

On the basis of one-dimensional theoretical water flow model, we demonstrate that the groundwater level variation follows a pattern similar to recharge fluctuation, with a time delay that depends on the characteristics of aquifer, recharge pattern as well as the distance between the recharge and observation locations. On the basis of a water budget model and the groundwater flow model, we propose an empirical model that links climatic variables to groundwater level. The empirical model is tested using a partial data set from historical records of water levels from more than 80 wells in a monitoring network for the carbonate rock aquifer, southern Manitoba, Canada. The testing results show that the predicted groundwater levels are very close to the observed ones in most cases. The overall average correlation coefficient between the predicted and observed water levels is 0.92. This proposed empirical statistical model could be used to predict variations in groundwater level in response to different climate scenarios in a climate change impact assessment.     

试论碳酸盐岩上覆红土的形成模式及演化趋势

据长期对岩溶及红土化作用等的研究成果,本文全面系统地分析了碳酸盐岩上覆红土的形成及演化规律,提出了一个新的碳酸盐岩上覆红土的形成模式,进而深入阐明了碳酸盐岩上覆红土的演化规律及其在现代气候条件下的演化趋势等,在解决岩溶及红土学术界存在的碳酸盐岩上覆红土的形成、碳酸盐岩与上覆红土之间的相互关系及其发展演化规律等一系列重大疑难问题上向前迈进了一步,对相关学科的发展将产生积极的推动作用.     

南京湖山地区棒锤山纵向断层的发现及其地质意义

作者在野外数学中发现，棒锤山人工露头上存在一条重要的纵向断层，经研究认为、棒锤山纵向断层反映了汤－仑推覆体在其发展中至少存在两次明显的应力释放过程，它可能与两次大的构造推覆及应力集中有关。