Identification and evolution of hydrogeochemical processes in the groundwater environment in an area of the Palar and Cheyyar River Basins,Southern India

The Palar and Cheyyar River Basins in Tamil Nadu state of Southern India are characterised by different geological formations, and groundwater is the major source for domestic, agricultural and other water-related activities. Hydrogeochemical studies were carried out in this area with the objective of identifying the geochemical processes and their relation to groundwater quality. Groundwater samples were collected once a month from 43 groundwater wells in this area from January 1998 to July 1999. Sampling procedures and chemical analysis were carried out as per the standard methods. Chemical data are used for mathematical calculations and graphical plots to understand the chemical process and its relation to the groundwater quality. The chemical composition of groundwater in the central part of the study area mainly depends on the recharge from lakes and the river, which is explained by a mixing mechanism. In addition, weathering of silicate minerals controls the concentration of major ions such as sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium in the groundwater of this area. Further, the activity ratios indicate that the groundwater is in equilibrium with kaolinite, smectite and montmorrillonite. The reverse ion exchange process controls the concentration of calcium, magnesium and sodium in hard rock formations, and dissolution of carbonate minerals and accessory minerals is the source of Ca and Mg, in addition to cation exchange in the sedimentary formations. In general, the chemical composition of the groundwater in this area is influenced by rock–water interaction, dissolution and deposition of carbonate and silicate minerals, ion exchange, and surface water interactions.     

Cartographic techniques for mapping the geochemical data of stream sediments: the “Sample Catchment Basin” approach

The Sample Catchment Basin (SCB) mapping technique extends the representativeness of the geochemical features of stream sediments to the surface of the whole upstream drainage basin. SCB boundaries clash with the water divides traced from each sampling point and are limited upstream by the presence of further SCBs. They are also assumed to represent the elementary map unit. The rank of SCBs can be defined counting the number of upstream SCBs along the branches of a fluvial network. The presence of low rank SCBs minimizes the statistical redundancy of measures. The SCB technique is particularly suitable for the geochemical mapping of mountainous or hilly areas and to correctly display the information into a morphological context. This approach can be also valuable in the case of low sampling density, inhomogeneous sampling schemes, and especially when very accurate evaluations of the spatial distribution of chemicals (with natural or anthropogenic origin) are required.     

Trace elements in medium-temperature (40–80 °C) thermal waters from the Mura basin (North-Eastern Slovenia)

Medium-temperature thermal waters in the Mura basin occur in hydrogeological systems different in age, burial depth, temperature, porosity and permeability, and the presence of free carbon dioxide which penetrates through the fractures from pre-Tertiary basement. The waters commonly belong to sodium-bicarbonate hydrogeochemical facies, but may have significantly different amounts of total dissolved solids, including trace elements. Thermal waters occurring in low-permeable, well-compacted and moderately fractured Tertiary sediments older than Upper Pliocene are the richest in trace elements, although their abundance may be very variable from one aquifer to another. The ratios of major alkaline and alkaline earth elements (Na, K, Ca) and trace elements (Li, Rb, Cs, Ba, Sr) commonly show relative enrichment in highly mineralised waters with respect to the waters with lower mineralisation. Rare earth elements (REEs) and Y show only minor fractionation in the highly mineralised waters, whereas in the waters with lower mineralisation strong fractionation of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) over light rare earth elements (LREEs) occurs, along with a pronounced positive europium anomaly. Positive Th/U ratios are commonly observed, although both actinide elements occur in the range of some hundredths of ppb to some ppb. Trace elements were particularly useful in the study of well cycling in two hydraulically interconnected geothermal wells in the town of Murska Sobota, which produce a mixture of low- and high-mineralised waters.     

New geomorphic evidence for anticlinal growth driven by blind-thrust faulting along the northern Marche coastal belt (central Italy)

The Northern Marche coastal belt is characterised by a series of NW-SE trending, NE verging folds forming the easternmost edge of the Apennines thrust front. Several geomorphic features suggest that the folds are still growing and hence that the thrust front is active. The occurrence of several historical and instrumental earthquakes (e.g. 1672, 1690, 1786, 1875, 1916, 1930, 1972, all having M_e 5.2) suggests that the thrust faults are also seismogenic.We performed a geomorphological analysis to identify and characterise the faults driving the active folds. Our approach assumes that anomalous drainage patterns and deformed Middle-Late Pleistocene alluvial and coastal terraces are indicators of the vertical component of tectonic strain. We identified, mapped and correlated with sea-level fluctuations a sequence of alluvial and coastal terraces. Longitudinal profiles of six rivers (Conca, Foglia, Metauro, Cesano, Misa, and Esino) show that terraces (1) consistently converge downstream, suggesting that they result from regional uplift that dies out near the coast, and (2) some are slightly warped where they cross anticline axes. We interpreted as coastal terraces several land-surface remnants arranged parallel to the present coastline. Lower remnants clearly top off gently landward-tilted coastal deposits. Reconstructed coastal terraces also seem to be tectonically warped.Our results help characterise the geometry and segmentation of a system that generated the largest earthquakes of the region and suggest the loci of potential seismic gaps. We conclude that the earthquake potential of the densely populated northern Marche coastal belt may be substantially higher than currently estimated.     

Late Paleozoic volcanic rocks of the Intra-Sudetic Basin, Bohemian Massif: petrological and geochemical characteristics

Late Paleozoic volcanic rocks in the Intra-Sudetic Basin of the Bohemian Massif in the Czech Republic can be subdivided into two series: (I) a minor bimodal trachyandesite-rhyolite series of Upper Carboniferous age with initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of ca. 0.710 and ε_Nd values of −6.1 also characteristic of volcanics of the near Krkonoše Piedmont Basin (0.707 and −6.0, Ulrych et al., 2003) and (II) a major differentiated basaltic trachyandesite-trachyandesite-trachyte-rhyolite series of Lower Permian age with lower initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr of ca. 0.705-0.708 and ε_Nd values ranging from −2.7 to −3.4/−4.1/. The newly recognized volcanic rocks of trachytic composition indicate that the rocks were formed by magmatic differentiation of similar parental melts rather than constituting a bimodal mafic-felsic sequence from different sources. Both series are generally of subalkaline affinity and calc-alkaline character with some tholeiitic tint (FeO/MgO vs. SiO₂, presence of orthopyroxene). The magmatic activity occurred in cycles in a layered chamber, each starting primarily with felsic volcanics and ending with mafic ones. The mafic rocks represent mantle-melt(s) overprinted by crust during assimilation-fractional crystallization. The Sr-Nd isotopic data confirm a significant crustal component in the volcanic rocks that may have been inherited from the upper mantle source and/or from assimilation of older crust during magmatic underplating and shallow-level melt fractionation.     

The role of porosity in the development of authigenic dolomite and palygorskite. An example in siliceous sandstones of continental origin in Western Spain

During the Tertiary, the Hercynian basement of the Iberian Peninsula was uneven due to Alpine tectonism which led to the development of a set of horsts and grabens forming its main geological structure. One of these grabens is the Ciudad Rodrigo Basin, located close to the Portuguese border. The south-western margin of this graben is filled with arkosic sandstones of continental origin that, once deposited, underwent important low-grade diagenetic processes related to the surface processes. The main diagenetic processes were hydrolysis, replacement by carbonate, and argillization to palygorskite. These three processes led to the differentiation of three main levels within the outcrops studied: (1) the Lower Level, where the original clayey sandstone outcrops, displaying fairly hydromorphic traits; (2) the Middle Level, where part of the clayey matrix has been replaced by dolomitic carbonate; and (3) the Upper Level, where palygorskite is the new neoformed clay. The change in porosity seems to have been the controlling factor, since it governs the dynamics of the solutions inside the rocks. These conditions changed from being diffusion-driven, at the start of the diagenesis, to flow-driven as porosity increased.     

Constraining the hydrocarbon expulsion history of the coals in Qinshui Basin, North China, from the analysis of fluid inclusions

From the comprehensive study on the homogenization temperatures and the occurrence of fluid inclusions in the framework minerals of the strata between or above the Carboniferous–Permian coals in the Qinshui basin, Shanxi, three stages are predicted of hydrocarbon expulsion from the coals. Combined with the known history of basin evolution, it is deduced that the expulsion of hydrocarbons happened during the J₁ (210–180 Ma), the early K₁ (150–130 Ma) and K₂E₁ (110–60 Ma). In the early stage, the coals produced and discharged coal-generated oils. The average GOI value of four sandstone samples is relatively high, as they have been exposed to high paleo-oil saturation in the strata between or above the coals. The biomarker compositions of oil-bearing fluid inclusions are similar to those of extracts from the coals, and so it is concluded that those oils were derived from the same family of the coals.     

Expériences de drainage et estimation de paramètres en milieu poreux non saturé

Two drainage experiments were carried out to identify the hydraulic parameters of a quartz sand by using inverse modelling. Our results, based on sensitivity and error analyses, show that (i) water content measurements are essential to estimate the parameters of the van Genuchten–Mualem retention curve, (ii) the saturated conductivity ($K_{\mathrm{s}}$) has a low sensitivity to pressure data and is not sensitive to other measures (water content and measured outflow), (iii) the inverse approach can be verified by comparing the simulated outflow to the measured one. To cite this article: H. Beydoun, F. Lehmann, C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).     

基于不同DEM数据源的数字河网提取对比分析——以韩江流域为例

基于HYDRO1K、SRTM3和ASTER GDEM三种DEM数据,利用BTOPMC地形子模型提取韩江流域河网,并作对比分析。结果表明:①SRTM3提取的河网精度最高,HYDRO1K相对最低。②DEM的垂直精度对提取的河网精度起控制作用。ASTER GDEM的水平分辨率较高,但垂直精度不如SRTM3,因而提取的河网精度不如SRTM3。③HYDRO1K提取大尺度流域河网具有一定的精度,但在地势平坦区域的效果较差,HY-DRO1K不宜用来提取小尺度流域河网。④由DEM提取的数字河网精度与当地的地面坡度以及处理DEM的填洼算法有关。