Transient‐state groundwater flow in various geometries with wells at arbitrary positions: analytical methods

We have developed a method for analytically solving the porous medium flow equation in many different geometries for horizontal (two‐dimensional), homogeneous and isotropic aquifers containing impermeable boundaries and any number of pumping or injection wells located at arbitrary positions within the system. Solutions and results are presented for rectangular and circular aquifers but the method presented here is easily extendible to many geometries. Results are also presented for systems where constant head boundary conditions can be emulated internal to the aquifer boundary. Recommendations for extensions of the present work are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The perimeter-area fractal model and its application to geology

Perimeters and areas of similarly shaped fractal geometries in two-dimensional space are related to one another by power-law relationships. The exponents obtained from these power laws are associated with, but do not necessarily provide, unbiased estimates of the fractal dimensions of the perimeters and areas. The exponent (D_AL) obtained from perimeter-area analysis can be used only as a reliable estimate of the dimension of the perimeter (D_L) if the dimension of the measured area is D_A=2. If D_A<2, then the exponent D_AL=2D_L/D_A>D_L. Similar relations hold true for area and volumes of three-dimensional fractal geometries. The newly derived results are used for characterizing Au associated alteration zones in porphyry systems in the Mitchell-Sulphurets mineral district, northwestern British Columbia.     

The Early Pliocene reflooding in the Western Mediterranean: New insights from the rias of the Internal Rif,Morocco

New field and micropalaeontological investigations have been conducted in four of the Pliocene rias of the internal zone of the Rif in Morocco, on the southern margin of the Alboran Sea. We found that marine sediments outcropping in these rias were deposited mainly during the Early Zanclean, between 5.04 and 3.8 Ma. After a transgressive episode that led to the deposition of terrestrial to marine conglomerates, dark clays deposited first at shallow palaeo-depths and then at bathyal palaeo-depths. The rias were then infilled with a shallowing upward succession comprising marine clays and sandstone and, locally, terrestrial sediments that indicate their final emersion. No Gilbert-deltas were observed in these rias. The presence of transgressive deposits at the bottom of the rias, also identified in other basins of the external zone of the Rif, and the absence of Gilbert deltas question a catastrophic reflooding after the Messinian Salinity Crisis in this area.     

Unique vs. non-unique stratal geometries: Relevance to sequence stratigraphy

The sequence stratigraphic architecture includes a complex array of stratal geometries with different degrees of stratigraphic significance. The ‘non-unique’ variability of the sequence stratigraphic framework (i.e., stratal geometries which are not diagnostic for the definition of systems tracts and bounding surfaces) is irrelevant to the workflow of sequence stratigraphy. What is relevant is the observation of the ‘unique’ stratal geometries that are diagnostic for the definition of units and surfaces of sequence stratigraphy. In downstream-controlled settings, these unique stratal stacking patterns relate to the forced regressive, normal regressive, and transgressive shoreline trajectories. Multiple controls interact during the formation of each type of stacking pattern, including accommodation, sediment supply, and the energy of the sediment-transport agents. This interplay explains the non-unique variability, but does not change the unique criteria that afford a consistent application of sequence stratigraphy. The distinction between unique and non-unique stratal geometries is critical to the sequence stratigraphic methodology. Failure to rationalize the non-unique variability within the context of unique stratal geometries is counterproductive, and obscures the simple workflow of sequence stratigraphy. This is the case with uncalibrated numerical modeling, which may overemphasize non-unique or even unrealistic stratigraphic scenarios. While useful to test the possible controls on stratigraphic architecture, modeling requires validation with real data, and plays no role in the sequence stratigraphic methodology.     

复杂边界及实际地形上溃坝洪水流动过程模拟

建立了基于无结构三角网格下采用有限体积法求解的二维水动力学模型,用于模拟溃坝洪水在复杂边界及实际地形上的流动过程。该模型采用Roe格式的近似Riemann解计算界面水流通量,结合空间方向的TVD-MUSCL格式及时间方向的预测-校正格式,可使模型在时空方向具有二阶计算精度。模型中引入最小水深概念,提出了有效的干湿界面处理方法。模拟了理想条件下溃坝水流过程,研究不同最小水深取值对干河床上洪水演进的影响,并用两组简单溃坝水流的水槽试验资料对模型进行验证。采用该模型模拟了实际溃坝洪水的流动过程,所得计算结果与实测资料及已有模型计算结果较为符合。     

Architecture of the evaporite accumulation and salt structures dynamics in Tiddlybanken Basin,southeastern Norwegian Barents Sea

An extensive, reprocessed two‐dimensional (2D) seismic data set was utilized together with available well data to study the Tiddlybanken Basin in the southeastern Norwegian Barents Sea, which is revealed to be an excellent example of base salt rift structures, evaporite accumulations and evolution of salt structures. Late Devonian–early Carboniferous NE‐SW regional extensional stress affected the study area and gave rise to three half‐grabens that are separated by a NW‐SE to NNW‐SSE trending horst and an affiliated interference transfer zone. The arcuate nature of the horst is believed to be the effect of pre‐existing Timanian basement grain, whereas the interference zone formed due to the combined effect of a Timanian (basement) lineament and the geometrical arrangement of the opposing master faults. The interference transfer zone acted as a physical barrier, controlling the facies distribution and sedimentary thickness of three‐layered evaporitic sequences (LES). During the late Triassic, the northwestern part of a salt wall was developed due to passive diapirism and its evolution was influenced by halite lithology between the three‐LES. The central and southeastern parts of the salt wall did not progress beyond the pedestal stage due to lack of halite in the deepest evaporitic sequence. During the Triassic–Jurassic transition, far‐field stresses from the Novaya Zemlya fold‐and‐thrust belt reactivated the pre‐salt Carboniferous rift structures. The reactivation led to the development of the Signalhorn Dome, rejuvenated the northwestern part of the salt wall and affected the sedimentation rates in the southeastern broad basin. The salt wall together with the Signalhorn Dome and the Carboniferous pre‐salt structures were again reactivated during post‐Early Cretaceous, in response to regional compressional stresses. During this main tectonic inversion phase, the northwestern and southeastern parts of the salt wall were rejuvenated; however, salt reactivation was minimized towards the interference transfer zone beneath the centre of the salt wall.     

渤海海域莱州湾凹陷KL11 2地区盐构造特征

本文主要利用最新的钻井和三维地震资料对渤海海域莱州湾凹陷盐构造几何形态、形成演化及其控制机理进行分析。莱州湾凹陷沙河街组四段含有较厚的岩盐和膏盐层,并在KL112地区发生聚集隆起,形成典型的盐底辟（盐枕）构造。KL112地区盐构造外部形态在不同地区发生了明显变化,从南向北,逐渐由过成熟底辟向成熟底辟和盐枕变化,南部的盐构造已进入底辟后演化阶段,而北部的盐构造仍处于盐枕阶段。受盐体塑性流动影响,盐构造周缘还发育有盐撤凹陷和阶状反向断层等盐相关构造。KL112地区盐构造的形成主要受伸展作用、重力滑动、浮力、沉积差异负载、基底构造以及郯庐断裂带的走滑作用等因素影响,主控因素为伸展作用背景下的重力滑动作用,但郯庐断裂带的走滑作用对盐体的塑性流动及其最终定位也有重要的影响。     

渤海海域莱州湾凹陷KL11-2地区盐构造特征

本文主要利用最新的钻井和三维地震资料对渤海海域莱州湾凹陷盐构造几何形态、形成演化及其控制机理进行分析。莱州湾凹陷沙河街组四段含有较厚的岩盐和膏盐层,并在KL11-2地区发生聚集隆起,形成典型的盐底辟(盐枕)构造。KL11-2地区盐构造外部形态在不同地区发生了明显变化,从南向北,逐渐由过成熟底辟向成熟底辟和盐枕变化,南部的盐构造已进入底辟后演化阶段,而北部的盐构造仍处于盐枕阶段。受盐体塑性流动影响,盐构造周缘还发育有盐撤凹陷和阶状反向断层等盐相关构造。KL11-2地区盐构造的形成主要受伸展作用、重力滑动、浮力、沉积差异负载、基底构造以及郯庐断裂带的走滑作用等因素影响,主控因素为伸展作用背景下的重力滑动作用,但郯庐断裂带的走滑作用对盐体的塑性流动及其最终定位也有重要的影响。     

Facies and stacking patterns of shelf-deltas within the Palaeogene Battfjellet Formation, Nordenskiöld Land, Svalbard: implications for subsurface reservoir prediction

Textural and mineralogical properties of the sediment, facies characteristics (both derived from well data), stacking patterns (derived from well and seismic data) and plan‐view shapes (derived from seismic data) are all essential components when reconstructing reservoir geometries from subsurface data sets. Without the availability of all these sources of information, reservoir predictions can potentially deviate significantly from the true geometries. In particular, inferences about internal sandbody geometry from plan‐view considerations (isopach maps and seismic attribute maps) may lead to erroneous conclusions without knowledge of facies and textural properties of the sediment. Analysis of well‐exposed sedimentary systems has the potential to establish links between internal facies characteristics and large‐scale geometry and to improve models coupling information at these variable scales. The Palaeogene Battfjellet Formation, Svalbard, has been studied with the aim to unravel internal characteristics and external form by investigating sediment properties, facies and stacking patterns. The formation shows a combination of texturally and mineralogically very immature sediments, a predominance of wave‐generated or wave‐induced sedimentary structures and a stacking pattern of highly variable numbers of parasequences at localities few kilometres apart that best can be explained in terms of small shifting deltaic lobes that produced a complex pattern of overlapping sandbodies. The strong evidence of wave action in the receiving basin could in itself indicate strike‐extensive sandstone bodies; however, the complex sandbody arrangement and the immaturity of the sediments preclude such an interpretation. Traditional facies models coupling plan‐view geometries with internal facies characteristics (such as the coupling of strike extensive barrier systems with wave‐dominated sedimentary structures or the coupling of elongated fluvial‐dominated deltas with offshore‐directed current‐generated structures) are much too simple and may lead to erroneous interpretations if the complexity revealed by all sources of data is not appreciated.     

Sea‐level reconstructions from the Peri‐Vocontian Zone (South‐east France) point to Valanginian glacio‐eustasy

The Valanginian is a period of global environmental change as illustrated by sedimentary, palaeontological, geochemical and climatic perturbations. A production crisis in most of the carbonate platforms suggests important changes in palaeoenvironmental conditions. During the same time interval, a major positive excursion in δ¹³C, the Weissert Event, suggests perturbations of the carbon cycle from the latest Early Valanginian to the Early Hauterivian. In order to better understand the link between these changes, sea‐level fluctuations have been reconstructed in detail from the Middle Berriasian to the earliest Hauterivian. Sections from the Peri‐Vocontian Zone (South‐east France) have been investigated because of the good quality of outcrops on the carbonate platforms, their margins and in the Vocontian Basin. Sections ranging from the most proximal zone (Swiss Jura) to the basin were interpreted in terms of sequence stratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy, and correlated at high resolutions. Using the identified small, medium and large‐scale sequences as well as depositional geometries, sea‐level fluctuations were reconstructed. Two main trends are evidenced during the studied interval: (i) the peak amplitude (magnitude) of the sea‐level fluctuations increased gradually from the Middle Berriasian to the Early Valanginian, and reached a maximum (more than 50 m) from the middle Early Valanginian to the Valanginian/Hauterivian boundary; and (ii) sea‐level variations were quite symmetrical during the Late Berriasian, slightly asymmetrical during the Early Valanginian and strongly asymmetrical (fast sea‐level rise, slow fall) from the latest Early Valanginian to the earliest Hauterivian. Moreover, three orders of sea‐level fluctuations were recognized in the sedimentary rocks of the Peri‐Vocontian Zone. Platform‐basin correlations and cyclostratigraphic interpretations of the basinal sections evidence an astronomical control on the sea‐level variations, mainly by the two eccentricity cycles of 100 and 400 kyr. The increase in the amplitude of the sea‐level fluctuations and their change from symmetrical to asymmetrical can be related to the onset of a major cooling event in the Early Valanginian. Fast transgressions followed by slower regressions would correspond to waxing and waning of high‐latitudinal ice during most of the Valanginian, especially from the latest Early Valanginian to the latest Late Valanginian. Glacio‐eustatic sea‐level fluctuations in tune with the 100 and 400 kyr eccentricity cycles are in agreement with glaciations during the Valanginian.