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     

秦岭镇-旬地区微细浸染型锑金矿床成矿条件及其找矿前景分析

镇（安）旬（阳）地区锑金矿化分布，与其区域地质地球化学因素，陆源断陷盆地沉积岩相变化，后期构造作用密切相关，认为镇旬地区为扬子与华北板块边缘对接过渡活动带，形成局部扩张断陷沉积盆地环境。海底同生断裂的发育，使盆地中心局限台盆环境造成陆源物质、内源组份和深部物质的混生，以及为深部含矿热液上升提供通道；在后期脆－韧性剪切变形构造叠加，地下热卤水循环改造作用，形成层控式细脉浸染型锑金矿床。该地区锑金成矿物质来源丰富，沉积构造环境优越，后期控矿构造发育，显示了潜在的细脉浸染型锑金矿床的找矿前景。     

Evolution of an advancing gravel front: observations from Vedder Canal,British Columbia

Channelization of the lowermost part of Vedder River in 1922 initiated a natural experiment relevant to the unresolved question of how abrupt gravel–sand transitions develop along rivers. The new channel (Vedder Canal) had a fine bed and a much lower slope than the gravel‐bed river immediately upstream. Changes in morphology and sedimentology as gravel advanced into and along the Canal are documented using air photos, historical surveys, and fieldwork. The channel aggraded and steepened until stabilized by occasional gravel extraction in recent decades. The deposited material fines progressively along the Canal but the gravel front has retained an abrupt appearance because it has advanced by the sequential development of discrete gravel tops on initially sandy alternate bars. Near the gravel front the bed is highly bimodal and there is a sharper drop in the extent of gravel‐framework surface facies than in bulk gravel content. Ahead of the front, gravel is restricted to thin ribbons which often become buried by migrating sand. Calculations show that even though the gravel bed at the head of the Canal is almost unimodal, size‐selective transport during floods can account for the strong bimodality farther downstream. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In Situ Determination of First‐Row Transition Metal,Ga and Ge Abundances in Geological Materials via Medium‐Resolution LA‐ICP‐MS

An in situ, medium‐resolution LA‐ICP‐MS method was developed to measure the abundances of the first‐row transition metals, Ga and Ge in a suite of geological materials, namely the MPI‐DING reference glasses. The analytical protocol established here hinged on maximising the ablation rate of the ultraviolet (UV) laser system and the sensitivity of the ICP‐MS, as well minimising the production of diatomic oxides and argides, which serve as the dominant sources of isobaric interferences. Non‐spectral matrix effects were accounted for by using multiple external calibrators, including NIST SRM 610 and the USGS basaltic glasses BHVO‐2G, BIR‐1G and BCR‐2G, and utilising ⁴³Ca as an internal standard. Analyses of the MPI‐DING reference glasses, which represent geological matrices ranging from basaltic to rhyolitic in composition, included measurements of concentrations as low as < 10⁰ μg g^?1 and as high as > 10⁴ μg g^?1. The new data reported here were found to statistically correlate with the ‘preferred’ reference values for these materials at the 95% confidence level, though with significantly better precision, typically on the order of ≤ 3% (2s_m). This analytical method may be extended to any matrix‐matched geological sample, particularly oceanic basalts, silicate minerals and meteoritic materials.     

不同阻垢剂对方解石和磷酸钙表面电位的影响

采用微电泳法考察了１５种阻垢剂对方解石和磷酸钙颗粒表面电位的影响。实验结果表明,在各种药剂中,丙烯酸／２ 丙烯酰胺基 ２ 甲基丙磺酸／次磷酸调聚物对难溶盐表面电位影响最大,乙二胺四乙酸二钠盐的影响最小。乙二胺四甲叉膦酸的溶垢能力和对表面电位的影响都较强。各种药剂对两种难溶盐表面电位影响的排序差异不显著。根据配位化学和表面化学原理解释了实验结果。     

Onset of seafloor spreading in the Iapetus Ocean at 608 Ma: precise age of the Sarek Dyke Swarm, northern Swedish Caledonides

The Sarek Dyke Swarm (SDS) crops out in the Sarektjåkkå Nappe (SN) of the Seve-Kalak Superterrane in the northern Swedish Caledonides. The SN has two main components: (1) a 4–5 km thick succession of rift-related sedimentary rocks, which is intruded by (2) a suite of tholeiitic dykes (the SDS) constituting 70–80% of the nappe. The nappe was deformed during Caledonian thrusting, but dykes and sedimentary rocks in the interior of the eastern parts of the SN are preserved in a pristine state. The tholeiitic dykes of the SDS commonly occur in sheeted dyke complexes, and up to 11 successive generations can be identified from crosscutting relations. The SN represents the fossil continent–ocean transition between the Baltic craton and the Iapetus Ocean, marking the initiation of seafloor spreading. Bubble-shaped pods and veinlets of diorite are present in the SDS sheeted dyke complexes. The pods are absent in the oldest dykes, but the younger a dyke, the more frequent the pods. The diorite pods are the equivalent of gabbro pegmatites, and both cogenetic and coeval with the dykes. The rapid successive emplacement of tholeiitic magma raised the ambient temperature in the dyke complex, so that crystallization in the youngest dykes mimicked similar processes in gabbro plutons. Six zircon fractions, from the diorite pods including two single grains, were analysed geochronologically by the U–Pb thermal ionization mass spectrometry method. The data yield a linear array of points that are 0.4–0.8% normally discordant, indicating a crystallization age of 608±1 Ma (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb=607.9±0.7 Ma, MSWD=0.33). This age is inferred to date the onset of seafloor spreading in the Iapetus Ocean along the Baltoscandian margin.     

福建省尤溪峰岩铅锌银资源潜力及找矿方向探讨

福建尤溪峰岩铅锌银矿床产于龙北溪组(Pt2-3l)绿片岩中,成矿构造环境为大陆古裂谷,矿床成因类型属块状硫化物矿床。通过一年多的资源调查评价(地质大调查项目)工作,地质找矿取得了重大进展,已控制的铅锌银资源量均达大型规模,预测该区具有寻找超大型矿床的潜力。该矿床的解剖对于福建北部、西部及相邻的浙江南部寻找同类型矿床具有指导意义。     

Determining magma flow in sills,dykes and laccoliths and their implications for sill emplacement mechanisms

Three-dimensional seismic data from the Faeroe-Shetland Basin provides detailed information on the relationships between sills, dykes, laccoliths and contemporaneous volcanic activity. The data shows that sills are predominantly concave upwards, being complete or partial versions of radially or bilaterally symmetrical forms that possess flat inner saucers connected to a flat outer rim by a steeply inclined sheet. Such morphologies are only partially modified by pre-existing faults. Sills can be sourced from dykes or the steep climbing portions of deeper sills. Both sills and dykes can provide magma to overlying volcanic fissures and sills can be shown to feed shallow laccoliths. Magma flow patterns, as revealed by opacity rendering, suggest that sills propagate upwards and outwards away from the magma feeder. As an individual sill can consist of several leaves emplaced at different stratigraphic levels, and as a sill or dyke can provide magma to volcanic fissures, other sills and laccoliths, the data suggests that neutral buoyancy concepts may not provide a complete explanation for the mechanism and level of sill emplacement. Instead, the data suggests that the presence of lithological contrasts, particularly ductile horizons such as overpressured shales may permit sill formation at any level below the neutrally buoyant level. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Ken Thomson–deceased, April 2007     

二维位场向上延拓和向下延拓的样条函数法

本文用样条函数法实现了二维位场的向上延拓和向下延拓,向上延拓用样条函数法计算泊松积分,向下延拓用样条函数法求解第一类Ｆｒｅｄｈｏｌｍ积分方程。模型和实例计算表明,本文方法正确可行且精度高。