The permeability of faults within siliciclastic petroleum reservoirs of the North Sea and Norwegian Continental Shelf

Faulting in Middle Jurassic reservoirs occurred at shallow depth during regional extension. Clean sandstones (<15% clay) deformed without significant grain fracturing and permeability reduction. Faults in impure sandstones (15–40% clay) experienced significant syn-deformation compaction and permeability reduction. Enhanced compaction during deeper burial reduced their permeabilities further from an average of 0.05 mD at <2.5 km to 0.001 mD at >4 km. Clay-rich sediments (>40% clay) deformed to produce clay smears with very low permeabilities (<0.001 mD). Faulting in the Rotliegendes occurred at greater depth during both basin extension and inversion. Extensional faulting produced cataclasites with permeability reductions of <10–>10⁶; their permeabilities range from 0.2 to 0.0001 mD and are inversely related to their maximum burial depth. Faults formed or reactivated during inversion experienced permeability increase. These results can be extrapolated to other hydrocarbon reservoirs if differences in stress and temperature history are taken into account.The permeability of most (>80%) faults is not sufficiently low, compared to their wallrock, to retard single-phase fluid flow on a km-scale. Nevertheless, most faults could retard the flow of a non-wetting phase if present at low saturations. It may be necessary to incorporate the two-phase fluid flow properties of fault rocks into reservoir simulators using upscaling or pseudoisation techniques. Fault property data should be calibrated against production data before it can be used confidently.     

Estimation of Land Subsidence Based on Groundwater Flow Model

This article presents an approach for estimating land subsidence due to withdrawal of groundwater. The proposed method calculates the groundwater seepage in 3-D-condition and calculates the land subsidence one-dimensionally. The governing equation on groundwater seepage is based on the three-dimensional mass conservation law and the principle of effective stress. The land subsidence calculation method is derived based on the following assumptions: (1) displacements occur only in the vertical direction, and (2) in vertical direction the total stresses do not change. The governing equation is solved by numerical method, i.e., finite element method (FEM) in spatial discretization and finite difference method (FDM) in time series discretization. In FEM Galerkin method is adopted and in FDM, lumped matrix method is employed. The proposed method is calibrated via analyzing 1-D consolidation problem and the results are compared with those from Terzaghi's one-dimensional consolidation theory and oedometer test. The proposed method is employed to analyze the consolidation of a soft layer due to withdrawal of groundwater from an aquifer under it. Moreover, this method is also applied to a field case of land subsidence due to groundwater pumping in a gas production field in Japan. The analytical results are compared with the field observed data. The results show that this approach simulates the field case well.     

Sediment movement under unidirectional flows: an assessment of empirical threshold curves

A selection of threshold data sets from previous investigations is used to re-examine, selectively, some of the empirical curves that are most commonly used for the prediction of sediment threshold. Simple analytical formulae are derived describing single line curves for mean threshold values and envelopes for the initial movement of discrete particles and the commencement of mass sediment transport phases of the critical condition.The complexity of factors governing the prevailing conditions at threshold, together with the randomness of events, limits deterministic solutions; however, the curves provide an approach that can be used readily in practical applications. In contrast, the envelope presentation is more of a stochastic approach to the definition of threshold. It recognises that there is no definitive threshold condition under which a particular particle size can be displaced, but rather that a range of threshold values exist.The empirical threshold relationships were derived on the basis of a relatively large amount of data. However, the sources utilised have interpreted the ‘critical condition’ in various ways, implying that the formulae must be treated with caution in applications.     

风暴潮灾与月相

本文以实测资料为依据,统计分析了风暴潮灾、风暴潮、登陆台风、天文高潮等与月相的关系。统计资料表明,登陆台风和台风风暴潮发生在大(小)潮期的次数相对较多,略大于平均数,但它们与月相没有明显的因果关系,它们相对于月相的分布大致上是随机的,如果台风在天文大潮期间登陆,台风引起的暴潮与天文潮叠加后成灾的概率明显增大,但也不一定成灾;成了灾的,往往是风暴潮峰值适逢当日的天文高潮所致。     

青岛地区的台风暴潮与潮灾

本文分析了青岛沿海地区的台风暴潮灾害状况，给出了潮位与海浪的联合作用对灾的影响关系式，提出了今后风暴潮预报的思路。     

Does subterranean flow initiate mud banks off the southwest coast of India?

Coastal waters off the southwest coast of India draw special attention because of the occurrence of mud banks at certain locations during southwest monsoon period. The present study puts forward a hypothesis of a subterranean flow, which could be a plausible mechanism to initiate the mud banks. The subterranean flow is believed to be coupled with activated trending faults and originate from the adjacent watershed (Vembanad Lake) separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land where submerged porous lime shell beds are present. When the lake water injection occurs through the fault, the mud/clay gets excited by its thixotrophic properties (as the overlying water looses its electrolyte) and transforms into a flowing fluid. The lowering of salinity due to the introduction of fresh water keeps the mud suspension in the water column for longer duration, leading to the formation of mud banks. The idea of subterranean flow through lime shell beds initiating formation of mud banks may apply globally to any coastal regions hugged by wetlands and of similar geological conditions.     

南海东北部台风潮的数值后报及极值增水估计

本研究对近40年来影响南海东北部陆架海区的28次台风引起的风暴潮进行了数值后报,其中8个过程的沿岸后报增水值与实测值进行了比较,表明后报值与实测值符合良好,90%以上的最大增水值偏差在30厘米以下。为了得出本海区多年一遇的台风增水极值,在后报台风路径密集处选择了9个不同水深点,对每点取出各次台风下的最大增水值,然后用Weibull分布进行拟合,得出了各点的极值分布。     

A Numerical Model for Natural Backfill of Pipeline Trenches Subjected to Unidirectional／Oscillatory Flows

A numerical model for the self-burial of a pipeline trench is developed. Morphological evolutions of a pipeline trench under steady-current or oscillatory-flow conditions are simulated with/without a pipeline inside the trench. The oscillatory flow in this study represents the action of waves. The two-dimensional Reynolds-averaged continuity and Navier-Stokes equations with the standard k-e turbulence closure, as well as the sediment transport equations, are solved with the finite difference method in a eurvilirrear coordinate system. Both bed and suspended loads of sediment transport are included in the morphological model. Because of the lack of experimental data on the backfilling of pipeline trenches, the numericalmodel is firstly verified against three closely-relevant experiments available in literature. A detailed measurement of the channel migration phenomenon under steady currents is employed for the assessment of the integral performance of themodel. The two experimental results from U-tube tests are used to validate the model‘s ability in predicting oscillatory flows. Different time-marching schemes are employed for the morphological computation under unidirectional and oscillatory conditions. It is found that vortex motions within the trench play an important role in the trench development.     

杰氏风暴潮预报方法在珠海及粤西海域的应用

本文通过杰氏风暴潮预报方法对历史上给珠海和粤西海域造成较大影响的台风增水事件进行后报试验,并通过统计分析方法对原有的预报公式进行订正,总结出适合珠海及粤西海域的风暴潮预报公式.利用5a的时间对珠海及粤西海域的台风增水进行试报,结果表明预报准确率分别达95.0%和87.6%,尤其对一些增水较大、影响较严重的台风增水预报相对更加准确,预报准确率均达90.0%以上.这说明订正后的公式对珠海及粤西海域的风暴潮预报能得到较好的预报效果.