Control of Cl production in carbonaceous shales by phosphate minerals     

Gregory Chmiel  Steven J. Fritz 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2003,67(13):2377-2395

When using ³⁶Cl to date very old groundwater in regional aquifer systems, knowledge of the subsurface ³⁶Cl input into the aquifer system is essential. Although ³⁶Cl can be produced through nuclear reactions in the subsurface, in many situations, the input of ³⁶Cl into sedimentary aquifer systems by this avenue of production can be neglected. This is a valid assumption when investigating long-flowpath groundwater systems composed of sandstones, limestones, and shales of typical composition. These rock types are not sufficiently enriched in radioactive elements to produce significant ³⁶Cl in the deep subsurface. Carbonaceous shales, on the other hand, can concentrate the radioactive elements necessary to produce significant ³⁶Cl in the deep subsurface. Chlorine-36 ratios (³⁶Cl/Cl) for a suite of Late Devonian and Pennsylvanian carbonaceous shales were calculated from bulk-rock chemistry as well as measured using accelerator mass spectrometry. The poor agreement between calculated and measured ratios is the result of the assumption of chemical homogeneity used by the calculation algorithm, an assumption that was not satisfied by the carbonaceous shales. In these shales, organic matter, clay minerals, and accessory minerals are heterogeneously distributed and are physically distinct on a micron-order scale. Although organic matter and clay minerals constitute the overwhelming bulk of the shales, it is the phosphate minerals that are most important in enhancing, and suppressing, ³⁶Cl production. Minerals such as apatite and carbonate-apatite (francolite)—by including uranium, rare earth elements (REEs), and halogens—have an important impact on both neutron production and thermal neutron absorption. By incorporating both uranium and fluorine, phosphate minerals act as neutron production centers in the shale, increasing the probability of ³⁶Cl production. By incorporating REEs and chlorine, phosphate minerals also act to shield ³⁵Cl from the thermal neutron flux, effectively suppressing the production of ³⁶Cl. To reconcile the measured ³⁶Cl ratios with the ratios calculated assuming chemical homogeneity, the shales were artificially split into three fractions: organic, clay mineral, and phosphate mineral. Neutron production was calculated separately for each fraction, and the calculation results demonstrated that the phosphate fraction exerted much more control on the ³⁶Cl ratio than the organic or clay mineral fractions. By varying the uranium and chlorine contents in the phosphate fraction, a new, heterogeneous ³⁶Cl ratio was calculated that agreed with the measured ratio for the overwhelming majority of the carbonaceous shales. When using rock chemistry to calculate the ³⁶Cl ratio, rock types that show mineralogical heterogeneity on a micron scale can be divided into bulk fractions and accessory fractions for separate calculations of neutron production and neutron absorption. In this manner, a more accurate, heterogeneous ³⁶Cl ratio can be calculated for the rock as a whole.  相似文献   

Using multiple logistic regression and GIS technology to predict landslide hazard in northeast Kansas, USA   总被引：60，自引：0，他引：60  

Gregory C. Ohlmacher  John C. Davis 《Engineering Geology》2003,69(3-4):331-343

Landslides in the hilly terrain along the Kansas and Missouri rivers in northeastern Kansas have caused millions of dollars in property damage during the last decade. To address this problem, a statistical method called multiple logistic regression has been used to create a landslide-hazard map for Atchison, Kansas, and surrounding areas. Data included digitized geology, slopes, and landslides, manipulated using ArcView GIS. Logistic regression relates predictor variables to the occurrence or nonoccurrence of landslides within geographic cells and uses the relationship to produce a map showing the probability of future landslides, given local slopes and geologic units. Results indicated that slope is the most important variable for estimating landslide hazard in the study area. Geologic units consisting mostly of shale, siltstone, and sandstone were most susceptible to landslides. Soil type and aspect ratio were considered but excluded from the final analysis because these variables did not significantly add to the predictive power of the logistic regression. Soil types were highly correlated with the geologic units, and no significant relationships existed between landslides and slope aspect.  相似文献   

Reserve Growth in Oil Fields of West Siberian Basin, Russia     

Mahendra K. Verma  Gregory F. Ulmishek 《Natural Resources Research》2003,12(2):105-119

Although reserve (or field) growth has proved to be an important contributing factor in adding new reserves in mature petroleum basins, it is a poorly understood phenomenon. Although several papers have been published on the U.S. fields, there are only a few publications on fields in other petroleum provinces. This paper explores the reserve growth in the 42 largest West Siberian oil fields that contain about 55% of the basin's total oil reserves.The West Siberian oil fields show 13-fold reserve growth 20 years after the discovery year and only about 2-fold growth after the first production year. This difference in growth is attributed to extensive exploration and field delineation activities between discovery and the first production year. Because of the uncertainty in the length of evaluation time and in reported reserves during this initial period, reserve growth based on the first production year is more reliable for model development. However, reserve growth models based both on discovery year and first production year show rapid growth in the first few years and slower growth in the following years. In contrast, the reserve growth patterns for the conterminous United States and offshore Gulf of Mexico show a steady reserve increase throughout the productive lives of the fields. The different reserve booking requirements and the lack of capital investment for improved reservoir management and production technologies in West Siberia are the probable causes for the difference in the growth patterns.The models based on the first production year predict that the reserve growth potential in the 42 largest oil fields of West Siberia for a five-year period (1998–2003) ranges from 270–330 million barrels or 0.34–0.42% per year. For a similar five-year period (1996–2001), models for the conterminous United States predict a growth of 0.54–0.75% per year.  相似文献   

Channel network morphology and sediment dynamics under alternating periglacial and temperate regimes: a numerical simulation study     

Patrick W. Bogaart  Gregory E. Tucker  J. J. de Vries   《Geomorphology》2003,54(3-4):257-277

The occurrence of permafrost in a highly permeable catchment has a profound effect on runoff generation. The presence of permafrost effectively makes the subsoil impermeable. Therefore, overland flow can be the dominant runoff-generating process during periglacial conditions. The absence of permafrost will promote subsurface drainage and, therefore, saturation excess overland flow can become the dominant runoff-generating process during temperate conditions. In this paper, we present a numerical modelling study in which the effect of alternating climate-related phases of permafrost and nonpermafrost on catchment hydrology and geomorphology is investigated. Special attention is given to the characteristics of the channel network being formed, and the sediment yield from these catchments. We find that channel networks expand under permafrost conditions and contract under nonpermafrost conditions. A change from permafrost to nonpermafrost conditions is characterised by a decrease in sediment yield, while a change towards permafrost conditions is marked by a peak in sediment yield. This peak is explained by the build-up of a reservoir of erodible sediment during the nonpermafrost phase. The driving force behind this reservoir build-up may be local base-level change due to tectonic uplift or eustacy. We present a number of experiments, which show the details of this process. The results are in line with existing reconstructions of climate and fluvial dynamics during the Pleistocene in Europe and offer a new explanation to these observations.  相似文献   

Phylogeny, diet, and habitat of an extinct ground sloth from Cuchillo Curá, Neuquén Province, southwest Argentina     

Michael Hofreiter  Julio L. Betancourt  Alicia Pelliza Sbriller  Vera Markgraf  H. Gregory McDonald 《Quaternary Research》2003,59(3):364-378

Advancements in ancient DNA analyses now permit comparative molecular and morphological studies of extinct animal dung commonly preserved in caves of semiarid regions. These new techniques are showcased using a unique dung deposit preserved in a late glacial vizcacha (Lagidium sp.) midden from a limestone cave in southwestern Argentina (38.5° S). Phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial DNA show that the dung originated from a small ground sloth species not yet represented by skeletal material in the region, and not closely related to any of the four previously sequenced extinct and extant sloth species. Analyses of pollen and plant cuticles, as well as analyses of the chloroplast DNA, show that the Cuchillo Curá ground sloth browsed on many of the same herb, grass, and shrub genera common at the site today, and that its habitat was treeless Patagonian scrub-steppe. We envision a day when molecular analyses are used routinely to supplement morphological identifications and possibly to provide a time-lapse view of molecular diversification.  相似文献   

Multiple Sources for Sea-Rafted Loisels Pumice, New Zealand     

Phil Shane  Paul Froggatt  Ian Smith  Murray Gregory 《Quaternary Research》1998,49(3):271-279

Sea-rafted Loisels Pumice is one of the few stratigraphic markers used to correlate late Holocene coastal deposits in New Zealand. Along with underlying sea-rafted products of the local Taupo eruption of ca. 1800 yr B.P., these events have been used to bracket the first arrival of humans at New Zealand. Loisels Pumice is dacitic to rhyolitic (SiO₂63–78 wt%) in composition, but individual clasts are homogeneous (SiO₂range ± 1 wt%). Characteristics include very low K₂O (0.5–1.75 wt%) and Rb (<25 ppm) and a mineralogy dominated by calcic and mafic xenocrysts. Similar features are shared by pumices of the Tonga–Kermadec arc, suggesting a common tholeiitic oceanic source. Interclast diversity of Loisels Pumice suggests that it is the product of several eruptive events from different volcanoes. The differences in glass and mineral compositions found at various sites can be explained if the deposits are from different events. A multisource origin can also partially explain the discrepancy in reported¹⁴C ages (ca. 1500–600 yr B.P.) from different localities. Therefore, the value of Loisels Pumice as a stratigraphic marker is questionable, and it does not constrain the arrival of humans. The predominant westward drift of historic Tonga–Kermadec arc pumices and prevailing ocean currents suggest a long anticlockwise semicircular transport route into the Tasman Sea before sea-rafted pumice arrival in New Zealand. The diversity of the pumices indicates that silicic eruptions frequently occur from the predominantly basic oceanic volcanoes.  相似文献   

Network‐scale dynamics of grain‐size sorting: implications for downstream fining,stream‐profile concavity,and drainage basin morphology     

Nicole M. Gasparini  Gregory E. Tucker  Rafael L. Bras 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2004,29(4):401-421

We explore the link between channel‐bed texture and river basin concavity in equilibrium catchments using a numerical landscape evolution model. Theory from homogeneous sediment transport predicts that river basin concavity directly increases with bed sediment size. If the effective grain size on a river bed governs its concavity, then natural phenomena such as grain‐size sorting and channel armouring should be linked to concavity. We examine this hypothesis by allowing the bed sediment texture to evolve in a transport‐limited regime using a two grain‐size mixture of sand and gravel. Downstream ?ning through selective particle erosion is produced in equilibrium. As the channel‐bed texture adjusts downstream so does the local slope. Our model predicts that it is not the texture of the original sediment mixture that governs basin concavity. Rather, concavity is linked to the texture of the sorted surface layer. Two different textural regimes are produced in the experiments: a transitional regime where the mobility of sand and gravel changes with channel‐bed texture, and a sand‐dominated region where the mobility of sand and gravel is constant. The concavity of these regions varies depending on the median gravel‐ or sand‐grain size, erosion rate, and precipitation rate. The results highlight the importance of adjustments in both surface texture and slope in natural rivers in response to changes in ?uvial and sediment inputs throughout a drainage network. This adjustment can only be captured numerically using multiple grain sizes or empirical downstream ?ning rules. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Regional and annual variability in common eider nesting ecology in Labrador   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Keith G. Chaulk  Gregory J. Robertson  William A. Montevecchi 《Polar research》2004,23(2):121-130

Nesting densities are often used to estimate breeding population size and with other measures of reproductive performance can be useful indicators of population status. These aspects of breeding biology often show considerable spatial and temporal variation. Between 2000 and 2003, we surveyed nesting common eiders ( Somateria mollissima ) on 172 islands in three archipelagos (Nain, Hopedale, Rigolet) on the Labrador coast. Rigolet was the largest archipelago (2834 km²) followed by Nain then Hopedale, and island density varied inversely with archipelago size. Overall means were: nest density 52.0 ± 141.9 (SD) nests/ha; nest initiation 12 June ± 12 days; clutch size 3.7 ± 1.2 eggs/nest; egg volume 98.8 ± 10.4 cm³; and clutch volume 392.3 ± 135.0 cm³. Rigolet had the highest average egg volumes and nest densities, the highest single island nest density of 1053 nests/ha, and the earliest average nest initiation date. We found significant differences in nest densities among archipelagos and across years; significant archipelago and year interactions were detected for nest initiation date and clutch size. Significant differences were found among individual islands for all response variables except egg volume. For egg volume, within-archipelago island differences were not significant, but between-archipelago differences were significant. Thus egg volume may be a useful diagnostic to identify population affiliation.  相似文献   

The Challenges of Modeling Climate Variability and Change in West Africa     

Gregory S. Jenkins  Garba Adamou  Simeon Fongang 《Climatic change》2002,52(3):263-286

This paper overviews observations and examines modeling issues associated with the mean state, climate variability and climate change in West Africa. The Tropical Rain Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite allows for the first time estimates of Unconditional, Convective and Stratiform rain rates in West Africa. The 1998 estimated TRMM rates are compared to long-term observed rain rates and a merged rain data set (CMAP) during 1998. Further, the TRMM estimates are compared to the simulated rain rates from the Community Climate Model Version 3.6. The TRMM Precipitation Radar rain estimates are generally lower than either the long-term observations or the CMAP rates during 1998. Moreover, the TRMM rain estimates show a significant fraction of the total rain (convective + stratiform) is characterized as stratiform rain (30–40%). The CCM3 simulates primarily convective rain and negligible amounts of non-convective rain for West Africa. Furthermore, the TRMM high-resolution rain patterns strongly imply that rain in West Africa occurs on mesoscales in association with mesoscale convective systems (squall lines, mesoscale convective complexes and non-squall tropical clusters). We demonstrate this by briefly examining two mesoscale convective systems during May 1998 with METEOSAT data. Regional climate models may offer the best solution to understanding climate change in West Africa because of their ability to capture mesoscale systems and better their representation of orographic features. Adequate boundary conditions from Global Climate Models are still necessary for regional climate model simulations to successfully reproduce mean climate conditions and provide understanding with respect to future climate change. Observations in West Africa should be maintained or increased for monitoring climate variability and possibility of climate change in West Africa, proper initialization of numerical weather prediction models and the validation of climate models.  相似文献   

Laboratory Column Experiments Using Polymer Mats to Remove Selected VOCs, PAHs, and Pesticides from Ground Water   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Bradley Mark Patterson  Gregory Bruce Davis  Allan James McKinley 《Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation》2002,22(2):99-106

Large-scale column experiments were undertaken to evaluate the potential of polymer mats to remove selected volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and pesticides (atrazine and fenamiphos) from ground water and potentially to act as permeable reactive barriers in contaminated ground water environments. The polymer mats, composed of interwoven silicone (dimethylsiloxane) tubes and purged with air, were installed in 2 m long flow-through columns. The polymer mats proved efficient in physically removing (stripping) benzene and naphthalene from contaminated water. Removal efficiencies for both these compounds from an aqueous phase flowing past a polymer mat were 75% or greater. However, for atrazine and fenamiphos, removal efficiencies were 5% or less, probably as a result of their lower Henry's law constants and possibly lower polymer diffusion coefficients.
These experiments indicate that, at least for relatively volatile compounds, polymer mats can provide a remediation technique for the removal of organic compounds from contaminated water. Application of this technique may be well suited as a longer-term, semipassive strategy to remediate contaminated ground water, using natural ground water flow to deliver contaminated ground water to polymer mats engineered as sorption-stripping barriers.
Additional benefits of this technique may include targeted delivery of gaseous chemical amendments, such as oxygen, to enhance aerobic biodegradation and to further reduce any residual concentrations of contaminants.  相似文献