Optimization of grid-drilling using computer simulation

A computer simulation method has been developed to find efficient drilling grids for mineral deposits. A well-known ore deposit is used as a model to develop an efficient pattern for undiscovered ore bodies in the same area or in other prospects where similar geometry is suspected. The model for this study is the Austinville, Virginia deposit, a Mississippi Valley-type deposit composed of 17 ore bodies totaling 34 million short tons (30 million metric tons). The method employs a computer program that simulates drilling the model deposit with different patterns, including various levels of follow-up drilling. Follow-up holes are drilled in fences at one half the original spacing around holes in the grid that show ore-grade mineralization. Each pattern is drilled 100 times from random starting locations to provide a range of outcomes of drilling, including the best, worst, and most likely. For this study, patterns of 100 drill holes were composed of 10 fences spaced 1000–5000 feet (305–1524 m) apart, each with 10 holes spaced 200–1000 feet (61–305 m) apart. In all, 25 grids were used with zero to three levels of follow-up drilling. The 600/2000 grid, with drill holes spaced 600 feet (183 m) apart in fences spaced 2000 feet (610 m) apart, was compared with the 200/5000 grid because they represented contrasting outcomes. The 600/2000 grid penetrated many ore bodies consistently but with few multiple hits to individual ore bodies; whereas the 200/5000 grid inconsistently penetrated few ore bodies with many multiple hits. The 600/2000 grid was more efficient than the 200/5000 grid at hitting large ore bodies of 1,000,000 short tons or greater (900,000 metric tons or greater) and was made more effective by adding one cycle of follow-up drilling. The 600/2000 grid had a 97% chance of hitting one or more large ore bodies with at least one drill hole per ore body, and the 200/5000 grid had a 64% chance. Once hit, there was an 82% chance that the largest ore body would be penetrated by three or more holes when using the 600/2000 grid and an 88% chance using the 200/5000 grid.     

商丹断裂构造特征及其演化

商丹断裂带是北秦岭加里东造山带与中秦岭海西造山带的分界断裂,由韧性剪切应变带、逆冲推覆构造带、地堑断陷带及其所夹持的岩块、岩片、构造岩、褶曲等多种地质体组合成复杂的断裂带。其演化历史至少经历晋宁期俯冲、加里东期碰撞、海西—印支期陆内俯冲、燕山期滑脱推覆和喜山期地堑断陷的复杂演化过程而形成今日所见的复杂断裂构造。     

Quaternary fault segmentation and interaction in the epicentral area of the 1561 earthquake (Mw = 6.4), Vallo di Diano, southern Apennines, Italy

The main structural characteristics of the Caggiano and Polla faults, exposed in the epicentral area of the 1561 earthquake (Mw = 6.4), southern Italy, have been investigated in detail to assess their spatial and temporal properties, and to evaluate their seismogenic potential. These right stepping normal faults show an overlap of about 7 km and an across strike separation of about 4 km. The geometric relationships between the Caggiano and Polla faults, but also the displacement distribution along each fault, demonstrate that they have been strongly interacting throughout the Pleistocene. Nevertheless, geological evidence of Holocene tectonic activity was mainly recognized along the Caggiano Fault (faulted late glacial deposits) and in the southernmost part of the Polla Fault (faulted deposits of probably Late Pleistocene age). This suggests that the Caggiano Fault can be considered as the most tectonically active fault in the Vallo di Diano Fault System. By calculating Coulomb stress changes, we have constrained modes of mechanical interactions between the two faults in a scenario compatible with the 1561 earthquake. This approach allows us to argue that both the Caggiano and the Polla Faults are probably linked at depth, and part of the same seismogenic structure which may be potentially responsible for composite ruptures with magnitude ≥ 6.5.     

On CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> fluid flow and heat transfer behavior in the subsurface,following leakage from a geologic storage reservoir

Geologic storage of CO₂ is expected to produce plumes of large areal extent, and some leakage may occur along fractures, fault zones, or improperly plugged pre-existing wellbores. A review of physical and chemical processes accompanying leakage suggests a potential for self-enhancement. The numerical simulations presented here confirm this expectation, but reveal self-limiting features as well. It seems unlikely that CO₂ leakage could trigger a high-energy run-away discharge, a so-called “pneumatic eruption,” but present understanding is insufficient to rule out this possibility. The most promising avenue for increasing understanding of CO₂ leakage behavior is the study of natural analogues.     

Anthropogenic affects on lake sedimentation process: a case study from Lake Sapanca, NW Turkey

Lake Sapanca in NW Turkey is a fault originated freshwater basin fed by seasonally variable flows of 15 streams. Considerations of lake–river interaction, supported by statistical measures of 47 bottom samples, suggest that sediment transport and deposition within the lake is controlled by two types of human constructed structures in addition to natural factors: (1) the dykes constructed in the front of streams, which feed the lake by strong flows, to prevent the filling of lakebed by coarse-grained sediments; (2) the constructed regulator on the outflowing Çarksuyu stream results in a higher sedimentation rate of clay-sized material on the NE corner of the lake, which is extraordinary in the shelf environment.     

An operational multiscale system for hazards prediction, mapping, and response

By definition, a crisis is a situation that requires assistance to be managed. Hence, response to a crisis involves the merging of local and non-local emergency response personnel. In this situation, it is critical that each participant: (1) know the roles and responsibilities of each of the other participants; (2) know the capabilities of each of the participants; and (3) have a common basis for action. For many types of natural disasters, this entails having a common operational picture of the unfolding events, including detailed information on the weather, both current and forecasted, that may impact on either the emergency itself or on response activities. The Consequences Assessment Tool Set (CATS) is a comprehensive package of hazard prediction models and casualty and damage assessment tools that provides a linkage between a modeled or observed effect and the attendant consequences for populations, infrastructure, and resources, and, hence, provides the common operational picture for emergency response. The Operational Multiscale Environment model with Grid Adaptivity (OMEGA) is an atmospheric simulation system that links the latest methods in computational fluid dynamics and high-resolution gridding technologies with numerical weather prediction to provide specific weather analysis and forecast capability that can be merged into the geographic information system framework of CATS. This paper documents the problem of emergency response as an end-to-end system and presents the integrated CATS–OMEGA system as a prototype of such a system that has been used successfully in a number of different situations.     

A New Genus and Species of Rhynchonellid (Brachiopoda, Recent) from Submarine Caves in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract. A new rhynchonellid brachiopod genus Tethyrhynchia , with type species Tethyrhynchia mediterranea n. sp., is described from specimens discovered in dark zones of submarine caves along the Mediterranean coast of France between Marseille and La Ciotat, and also at Zembra Island, off the Gulf of Tunis, Tunisia. Other brachiopods occurring with this diminutive rhynchonellid are also small and include the megathyridids Argyrotheca cistellula and Megathiris detruncata . This is the first recorded occurrence of a rhynchonellid from the Mediterranean Sea. The new form is apparently neotenous, in that the lophophore in adults never develops beyond the trocholophous stage. A new type of rhynchonellid crus, crescentic in profile and here named the lunifer type, is described. The new genus is assigned to the new family Tethyrhynchiidae , and comparisons are made with other extant rhynchonellid genera.     

The Levant Slumps and the Phoenician Structures: collapse features along the continental margin of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea

Two distinct series of slumps deform the upper part of the sedimentary sequence along the continental margin of the Levant. One series is found along the base of the continental slope, where it overlies the disrupted eastern edge of the Messinian evaporites. The second series of slumps transects the continental margin from the shelf break to the Levant Basin. It seemed that the two series were triggered by two unrelated, though contemporaneous, processes. The shore-parallel slumps were initiated by basinwards flow of the Messinian salt, that carried along the overlying Plio-Quaternary sediments. Seawater that percolated along the detachment faults dissolved the underlying salt to form distinctly disrupted structures. The slope-normal slumps are located on top of large canyons that cut into the pre-Messinian sedimentary rocks. A layer of salt is found in the canyons, and the Plio-Quaternary sediments were deposited on that layer. The slumps are bounded by large, NW-trending faults where post-Messinian faulted offset was measured. We presume that the flow of the salt in the canyons also drives the slope-normal slumps. Thus thin-skinned halokynetic processes generated the composite post-Tortonian structural patterns of the Levant margin. The Phoenician Structures are a prime example of the collapse of a distal continental margin due to the dissolution of a massive salt layer.     

Resources calculation of cobalt-rich crusts with the grid subdivision and integral method

On the basis of three geological models and several orebody boundaries,a method of grid subdivision and integral has been proposed to calculate and evaluate the resources of cobalt-rich crusts on the seamounts in the central Pacific Ocean.The formulas of this method are deduced and the interface of program module is designed.The method is carried out in the software "Auto mapping system of submarine topography and geomorphology MBChart".This method and program will possibly become a potential tool to calculate the resources of seamounts and determine the target diggings for China's next Five-year Plan.