Geohydrological models and earthquake effects at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

 Yucca Mountain, the proposed site for the high-level nuclear waste repository, is located just south of where the present water table begins a sharp rise in elevation. This large hydraulic gradient is a regional feature that extends for over 100 km. Yucca Mountain and its vicinity are underlain by faulted and fractured tuffs with hydraulic conductivities controlled by flow through the fractures. Close to and parallel with the region of large hydraulic gradient, and surrounding the core of the Timber Mountain Caldera, there is a 10- to 20-km-wide zone containing few faults and thus, most likely, few open fractures. Consequently, this zone should have a relatively low hydraulic conductivity, and this inference is supported by the available conductivity measurements in wells near the large hydraulic gradient. Also, slug injection tests indicate significantly higher pressures for fracture opening in wells located near the large hydraulic gradient compared to the opening pressures in wells further to the south, hence implying that lower extensional stresses prevail to the north with consequently fewer open fractures there. Analytical and numerical modeling shows that such a boundary between media of high and low conductivity can produce the observed, large hydraulic gradient, with the high conductivity medium having a lower elevation than the water table. Further, as fractures can close due to tectonic activity, the conductivity of the Yucca Mountain tuffs can be reduced to a value near that for the hydraulic barrier due to strain release by a moderate earthquake. Under these conditions, simulations show that the elevation of the steady-state water table could rise between 150 and 250 m at the repository site. This elevation rise is due to the projected shift in the location of the large hydraulic gradient to the south in response to a moderate earthquake, near magnitude 6, along one of the major normal faults adjacent to Yucca Mountain. As the proposed repository would only be 200–400 m above the present water table, this predicted rise in the water table indicates a potential hazard involving water intrusion. Received: 7 June 1996 / Accepted: 19 November 1996     

大芦家地区渐新统东二1亚段三角洲前缘砂体微相及储集性研究

通过岩芯、录井、测井资料的综合分析,发现大芦家地区渐新统东二段主要由三角洲前缘亚相组成,砂体的成因类型主要包括三角洲前缘亚相的河口坝、水下分流河道、水下天然堤和决口扇、席状砂、远砂坝。它们不仅具有各自独特的沉积特征和测井相特征,而且其空间储集物性的分布也各不相同。此外,它们还具有较强的层内非均质性,层间非均质性和平面非均质性却较弱。     

Mise en évidence d'un nouveau front de chevauchement dans l'Atlas tunisien oriental de Tunisie par sismique réflexion. Contexte structural régional et rôle du Trias salifère

Structural interpretations of newly acquired seismic lines in northeastern Tunisia allow us to highlight a new thrust front for the Atlasic range of Tunisia, in contrast to the previously Zaghouan fault thrust Dorsale zone. This new thrust front takes place on weakness tectonic zones, materialized by inherited faults anchored on the pre-Triassic basement. This front seems to be a paleogeographic trend controlling structural style and basin fill with a synsedimentary activity. The front is expressed by reverse faults, thrust faults, back thrusting, and decollement structures. To cite this article: S. Khomsi et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

阿姆河右岸东南部吉萨尔山前中下侏罗统构造格架及成因分析

以现有地质及地震资料为基础,对阿姆河右岸区块东南部靠近吉萨尔山前地区的中下侏罗统主要构造特征进行探讨,一方面有利于促进该区中下侏罗统油气勘探,同时也有利于深化对造山带向盆地过渡的山前地区构造变形规律的认识。研究表明：该区中下侏罗统整体表现为由三列近似呈雁行状排列的NE向背斜带组成的褶皱-冲断构造。从控制背斜构造发育的断裂活动特征看,东部山前断层表现为由南东向北西方向逆冲,活动强度大,向西逆断层运动的强度逐渐减弱,且由南向北西部断层的逆冲运动方向发生反向变化,在研究区的北部发育典型的构造三角带。西部背斜带可视为断裂运动方式由南向北变化导致的调节构造。沿构造带走向,三列背斜构造高点由南向北逐渐升高。通过对中下侏罗统构造变形与上覆地层构造特征的比较,结合该区侏罗系沉积特征,认为中下侏罗统构造变形是与上覆地层构造变形共同形成于新近纪喜山期统一的区域构造运动背景下。其主要构造变形机制是晚古近-新近纪以来,在印度板块、阿拉伯板块和欧亚板块碰撞远程效应影响下,受吉萨尔山脉的隆升挤压和研究区北部NW向的大型断裂如布哈拉断裂、曼格什拉克断裂的右旋压扭共同作用而成。     

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.     

重庆金佛山地区土壤酸度分布特点及影响因素研究

通过15个剖面样品分析,对金佛山北坡土壤酸度分布特点及影响因素进行了研究。结果表明,金佛山地区土壤酸度分布呈现p H平均值偏低、变异较大的特点: 山腰志留系砂页岩区土壤酸度大于灰岩区的土壤酸度;在石灰岩区,山顶的土壤酸度则比坡腰和山脚的大,缓坡地带的土壤酸度比陡坡地带的大。山腰和坡脚p H值较高,体现了植被状况和人类干扰的共同影响,而页岩区土壤酸度较灰岩的大,则反映了成壤母质的影响作用。      

祁连山北缘冲断带西段构造特征

祁连山北缘冲断带是中国较早发现油田的地区之一,近几年来该区油气勘探又获得进一步突破。文中根据近几年得到的地震、钻井、地面露头资料,结合前人研究成果,分析了祁连山北缘冲断带西段的构造特征。祁连山北缘冲断带具有中国西部山前冲断带的共同特征:构造主要定型于喜山期;断层相关褶皱、冲断构造体系发育;冲断带分段分带明显;构造复杂。除此之外,祁连山北缘冲断带西段也有独特的构造特征。由于不同性质盆地的叠合,冲断带走向方向地层组成变化大;冲断带的分段性受控于古构造格局;主要发育横向叠置的多重冲断构造体系。这些特征造成了北缘冲断带油气勘探的复杂性。     

盒子波调查技术在六盘山黄土塬区的应用分析

六盘山盆地被巨厚的黄土所覆盖,是表层和深层双复杂区域。巨厚的黄土和复杂的地形条件使该区干扰波非常发育,严重影响了地震资料的信噪比。为了有效调查该区干扰波发育特征,并进行针对性地压制,通过盒子波调查技术在该区的应用分析,提出了和生产结合进行盒子波调查的有效方式,克服了静校正问题对盒子波调查数据的影响。针对两种地形条件下的盒子波资料,分析了在不同地形和表层条件下干扰波场的变化,认为影响浅层和中深层信噪比的干扰波特征存在差异;并通过组合压噪效果分析,提出对不同深度勘探目标进行针对性压噪的组合接收方式,提高了六盘山地区巨厚黄土塬勘探区目标层采集资料的信噪比。     

基于遥感技术的龙门山前山带烃类微渗漏信息提取

通过对龙门山前山带含油区与非含油区的岩石、土壤、植被等进行测试,认为烃类微渗漏会造成地表热异常、红层褪色、低价铁富集以及粘土矿化等现象,并对研究区的粘土矿物、Fe3+、Fe2+与烃类的波普曲线特征进行了分析对比。以ETM卫星图像为主要信息源,选择了TM2/TM3、TM3/TM4和TM5/TM7进行比值处理,从光谱数据中直接提取出碳酸盐化、粘土矿化、红层褪色等油气蚀变信息,并在对研究区遥感地质解译的基础上,指出烃渗漏信息异常晕主要沿断裂带分布,特别在不同走向断裂的交汇区域分布面积和强度较大,而在已知油气圈闭区域,信息晕主要呈碎片状或斑点状零散分布,且以低值异常为主。根据烃渗漏异常的分布特征,提取出石板滩、中坝、孝泉、聚源、鸭子河以及邛崃等遥感信息异常区块。