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.     

Soluble organic compounds in fog and cloud droplets: what have we learned over the past few years?

We have recently set up a new procedure for characterising the water soluble organic compounds (WSOC) in fog water, for which information is still rather limited. Fog samples collected during the 1998–1999 fall–winter season in the Po Valley (Italy) were analysed following this procedure, which allows a quantitative determination of three main classes of organic compounds (neutral species, mono- and di-carboxylic acids, polycarboxylic acids), together accounting for ca. 85% of the total WSOC. This procedure also provides information on the main chemical characteristics of these three classes of compounds (functional groups, aliphatic vs. aromatic character, etc.). The enhanced chemical knowledge on fog/cloud chemical composition opens new scenarios as far as chemical and microphysical processes in clouds and fogs are concerned.     

五里冲水库--治理和利用喀斯特溶洞的范例

滇南蒙自五里冲水库，系充分利用盲谷地形、地下隐蔽喀斯特大厅、地下暗河等自然条件，扬长避短，通过明堵暗灌、高压灌浆、构建防渗帷募等特殊综合工程手段建造的无大坝型水库。该区地质情况复杂，喀斯特十分发育，先后投入大量钻探、平硐及基础地质调查工作量，采和合适的防漏、防渗工程。1996年竣工下闸蓄水后水位持续上升，达到设计要求，为蒙自工农业经济发展提供条件，亦为在我国南方复杂喀斯特地区构建大、中型水库闯出新路。     

Nouvelle interprétation structurale de la « faille Nord- Pyrénéenne » en vallée d'Aspe (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). Remise en question d'un plutonisme ophitique danien dans le secteur de Bedous

In the Aspe Valley (western Pyrenees), the Europe/Iberia boundary corresponds to a complex fracturing zone, called the ‘Bielle–Accous Wrench-Faulting Corridor’, which represents the classical ‘North-Pyrenean Fault’. Located between the High Primary Range and the North-Pyrenean Zone, the BAWC shows different south-verging sheets mainly composed of Triassic materials. The Bedous ophite, associated with Muschelkalk and Keuper sediments, is also Triassic in age and involved in the same Pyrenean thrusting structures. So, contrary to a recent interpretation, this magmatic rock cannot be related to a supposed Danian plutonism inducing metamorphic processes in the surrounding Mesozoic formations. To cite this article: J. Canérot et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).     

四川省九龙县娃娃沟泥石流运动特征与堵河成灾机制分析

2006年7月16日娃娃沟流域暴发的大规模泥石流,给下游3个电站造成巨大经济损失,是大渡河流域一次典型的灾害性泥石流。分析得出,娃娃沟泥石流重度高、搬运能力强,泥石流固体物质砂、石混杂,粗大砾石含量高;暴发频率低、规模大,流速及峰值流量分别高达10．78m／s及798．5m^3／s;在汇口处,泥石流堆积物堵塞河道是引起下游电站受灾的重要原因,高重度、粗颗粒、大流量的组合是此次泥石流堵江的重要原因。堵河判别计算结果显示在发生百年一遇泥石流时,该断面均有发生堵河的可能。娃娃沟泥石流表明：①在大渡河支流的泥石流沟周边的中小电站极有可能在泥石流暴发时受到破坏。因此,电站建设过程中应加强对周边泥石流沟的防灾减灾工作;②虽然娃娃沟流域植被良好,但仍然发生了大规模泥石流。表明植被不能完全避免泥石流的发生,对于此类泥石流沟不能疏忽大意。     

萨拉乌苏河流域萨拉乌苏组砂丘砂沉积特征

The Salawusu Formation of Milanggouwan section in Salawusu River Valley includes 7 layers of paleo-mobile dune sands, and 4 layers of paleo-fixed and semi-fixed dune sands. Their structures have been observed and their grain size, surface textural features and several main chemical elements have been analyzed. The results showed that： 1） Some of the aeolian structural characteristics of these dune sands are similar to that of the recent dune sands. 2） They are also similar to the recent dune sands in grain size components, and parameters of Mz,σ, Sk and Kg, as well as in several main chemical components. 3） The scattergrams of Mz-σ and SiO2-Al2O3＋TOFE and the probability curves of grain size showed that these paleo-dune sands are different from paleosols and fluvio-lacustrine facies, but are consistency with recent dune sands. 4） Quartz sands have well roundness and surface textural features such as dish-shaped pits, crescent-shaped pits, pockmarked pits, upturned cleavage plates, siliceous precipitates and siliceous crevasses, indicating that they had been carried for a long time by the wind. As the 11 layers of paleo-dune sands possess the aeolian characteristics in structure, grain size, surface textural features and chemical elements, the origin of their formation should be attributed to eolation.     

Groundwater mixing between different aquifer types in a complex structural setting discerned by elemental and stable isotope geochemistry

Karst aquifers are well known for their intricate stratigraphy and geologic structures, which make groundwater characterization challenging because flowpaths and recharge sources are complex and difficult to evaluate. Geochemical data, collected from ten closely spaced production wells constructed in two karst aquifers (Bangor Limestone (Mb) and Tuscumbia Limestone/Fort Payne Chert (Mftp)) in Trussville, north‐central Alabama, illustrate two distinctive groundwater end‐members: (1) higher major ion, dissolved inorganic carbon, conductivity, alkalinity concentrations, heavier δ¹³C ratios (max: −10.2 ± 0.2‰ Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB)) and lower residence times (mean: 19.5 ± 2 years, n = 2) of groundwater in the Mb aquifer and (2) lower constituent concentrations, lighter δ¹³C ratios (min: −13.4 ± 0.2‰ PDB) and longer residence times of groundwater (mean: 23.6 ± 2 years, n = 4) in the Mftp aquifer. Summer and fall data and the binary mixing model show aquifer inter‐flow mixing along solution fractures and confirms the distinctive groundwater geochemistry of the two aquifers. Lowering of static water levels over the summer (drawdown from 2 to 5.2 m) leads to more reducing groundwater conditions (lower Eh values) and slightly enriched δ¹⁸O and δD ratios during the fall [δ¹⁸O: −4.8 ± 0.1 to −5.4 ± 0.1‰ Vienna Standard Mean Oceanic Water (VSMOW), n = 9; δD: −25.4 ± 1 to −27.4 ± 1‰ VSMOW, n = 9] when compared with summer season samples (δ¹⁸O: −5.1 ± 0.1 to −5.7 ± 0.1‰ VSMOW, n = 11; δD: −25.0 ± 1 to −30.6 ± 1‰ VSMOW, n = 11). GIS analyses confirm the localized origin of recharge to the investigated aquifers. The combination of GIS, field parameters and geochemistry analyses can be successfully used to identify recharge sources, evaluate groundwater flow and transport pathways and to improve understanding of how groundwater withdrawals impact the sustainability and susceptibility to contamination of karst aquifers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using multivariate statistical analysis of groundwater major cation and trace element concentrations to evaluate groundwater flow in a regional aquifer

Groundwater samples were collected from 11 springs in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in southern Nevada and seven springs from Death Valley National Park in eastern California. Concentrations of the major cations (Ca, Mg, Na and K) and 45 trace elements were determined in these groundwater samples. The resultant data were subjected to evaluation via the multivariate statistical technique principal components analysis (PCA), to investigate the chemical relationships between the Ash Meadows and Death Valley spring waters, to evaluate whether the results of the PCA support those of previous hydrogeological and isotopic studies and to determine if PCA can be used to help delineate potential groundwater flow patterns based on the chemical compositions of groundwaters. The results of the PCA indicated that groundwaters from the regional Paleozoic carbonate aquifers (all of the Ash Meadows springs and four springs from the Furnace Creek region of Death Valley) exhibited strong statistical associations, whereas other Death Valley groundwaters were chemically different. The results of the PCA support earlier studies, where potentiometric head levels, δ¹⁸O and δD, geological relationships and rare earth element data were used to evaluate groundwater flow, which suggest groundwater flows from Ash Meadows to the Furnace Creek springs in Death Valley. The PCA suggests that Furnace Creek groundwaters are moderately concentrated Ash Meadows groundwater, reflecting longer aquifer residence times for the Furnace Creek groundwaters. Moreover, PCA indicates that groundwater may flow from springs in the region surrounding Scotty's Castle in Death Valley National Park, to a spring discharging on the valley floor. The study indicates that PCA may provide rapid and relatively cost‐effective methods to assess possible groundwater flow regimes in systems that have not been previously investigated. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Morphological variation and reproductive biology of Polaskia chende (Cactaceae) under domestication in Central Mexico

The columnar cactus Polaskia chende, endemic to Central Mexico, occurs in the wild and in silviculturally managed populations where artificial selection for better edible fruits operates by sparing and favouring desirable phenotypes during vegetation clearance. Wild and managed populations were compared in morphology and reproductive biology to analyse if human selection has influenced phenotypic divergence, if it has modified breeding systems and if reproductive isolation exists between them. Fruits from managed populations were larger (6·36±0·17 cm³), heavier (19·62±1·32), sweeter (9·07±0·25 °Brix), and with thinner peel (2·09±0·13 mm) than those from wild populations (5·77±0·18 cm³, 15·73±0·85 g, 8·23±0·31 °Brix, and 2·58±0·14 mm, respectively). Both population types bloom synchronically, show diurnal anthesis, with bees as the most likely pollinators, and have breeding system predominantly self-incompatible. Spatial and temporal barriers to pollen exchange between wild and managed populations are unlikely, and morphological differences would be related with an ongoing process of artificial selection.     

雅鲁藏布江河谷加查-米林段沙丘成因

加查-米林段位于雅鲁藏布江河谷中游下段,分布沙丘89片。通过实地考察、遥感卫星影像解译、DEM分析、粒度分析等方法对加查-米林段沙丘成因进行分析。结果表明：依据沙丘沙物质来源可将加查-米林段沙丘划分为河漫滩型沙丘、阶地型沙丘和谷坡型沙丘。河漫滩型沙丘形成与雅鲁藏布江水位关系密切。丰水期洪水淹没河漫滩,泥沙沉积;枯水期水位降低,泥沙出露,经风的吹蚀、搬运、堆积形成河漫滩型沙丘。阶地型沙丘和谷坡型沙丘形成与表层覆盖的黄土层（粉质砂土）破坏有关。雅鲁藏布江不断下切,在阶地及谷坡不同高度残留古河流冲积沙,遭受风蚀后风蚀堆积物形成古沙丘。因环境演变,古沙丘表面沉积黄土,形成致密坚硬的黄土层,不易被风吹蚀,成为古沙丘的保护层。黄土层受风蚀、水蚀及人类活动破坏,导致下伏古沙丘裸露,形成现代流动沙丘。