漠河地区天然气水合物远景调查之——电法探测岩石性永久冻层的应用研究

在东北天然气水合物远景调查中,解决多年永久性冻土的空间分布是一个关键性问题.但是利用电测方法确定基岩性永久冻土的空间分布比较复杂.为有效利用电测方法探测漠河地区永久冻土的空间分布,首先对漠河地区4口钻井岩芯进行了不同温度条件下的物性测试,并以此建立正演模型进行了正演模拟研究;在工作区永久冻层已知点做了方法有效性实验,获得了永久冻层与上、下非冻层的电性结构特征.在此基础上采用电阻率测深法和瞬变电磁法进行了实际探测,根据实测资料,对工作区永久冻层或与永久冻层相关电性层的空间分布做出了推断解释,利用点探槽对不同海拔高度的测点进行了验证.

An Estimation of Ground Ice Volumes in Permafrost Layers in North- eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

The ground ice content in permafrost serves as one of the dominant properties of permafrost for the study of global climate change, ecology, hydrology and engineering construction in cold regions. This paper initially attempts to assess the ground ice volume in permafrost layers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by considering landform types, the corresponding lithological composition, and the measured water content in various regions. An approximation demonstrating the existence of many similarities in lithological composition and water content within a unified landform was established during the calculations. Considerable knowledge of the case study area, here called the Source Area of the Yellow(Huanghe) River(SAYR) in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has been accumulated related to permafrost and fresh water resources during the past 40 years. Considering the permafrost distribution, extent, spatial distribution of landform types, the ground ice volume at the depths of 3.0–10.0 m below the ground surface was estimated based on the data of 101 boreholes from field observations and geological surveys in different types of landforms in the permafrost region of the SAYR. The total ground ice volume in permafrost layers at the depths of 3.0–10.0 m was approximately(51.68 ± 18.81) km^3, and the ground ice volume per unit volume was(0.31 ± 0.11) m^3/m^3. In the horizontal direction, the ground ice content was higher in the landforms of lacustrine-marshland plains and alluvial-lacustrine plains, and the lower ground ice content was distributed in the erosional platforms and alluvial-proluvial plains. In the vertical direction, the volume of ground ice was relatively high in the top layers(especially near the permafrost table) and at the depths of 7.0–8.0 m. This calculation method will be used in the other areas when the necessary information is available, including landform type, borehole data, and measured water content.

Symbiosis of Marshes and Permafrost in Da and Xiao Hinggan Mountains in Northeastern China

Recently, the degradation of permafrost and marsh environments in the Da and Xiao Hinggan Mountains has become a great concern as more human activities and pronounced climate warming were observed during the past 30 years and projected for the near future. The distr/bution patterns and development mechanisms of the permafrost and marshes have been examined both in theories and in field observations, in order to better understand the symbiosis of permafrost and marshes. The permafrost and marshes in the Da and Xiao Hinggan Mountains display discernible zonations in latitude and elevation. The marsh vegetation canopy, litter and peat soil have good thermal insulation properties for the underlying permafrost, resulting in a thermal offset of 3 ℃ to 4℃ and subsequently suppressing soil temperature. In addition, the much higher thermal conductivity of frozen and ice-rich peat in the active layer is conducive to the development or in favor of the protection of permafrost due to the semi-conductor properties of the soils overlying the permafrost. On the other hand, because permafrost is almost impervious, the osmosis of water in marsh soils can be effectively reduced, timely providing water supplies for helophytes growth or germination in spring. In the Da and Xiao Hinggan Mountains, the permafrost degradation has been accelerating due to the marked climate warming, ever increasing human activities, and the resultant eco-environmental changes. Since the permafrost and marsh environments are symbiotic and interdependent, they need to be managed or protected in a well-coordinated and integrated way.

The Degradation and Pollution of Soils on the Territory of the Kovykta Gas Condensate Field

In this paper, research results from the time interval 2002-2012 are used to give an account of the chemical composition of soils on the territory of the Kovykta gas condensate field. The findings presented provide a better understanding of the ecological state of soil cover, its resilience to anthropogenic impacts, and its possible disturbance caused by the drilling pad construction activity, and by the laying of geophysical profiles. An analysis of soil pollution for the study territory generally showed that the soils are polluted with chemical elements which refer to toxicity classes： Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr, Ba and Mn. High levels ofoil products were detected near boreholes. Strong mineralization was recorded in the soil near borehole. It has a chloride-sodium chemical composition. As a result of the construction of foundation pits, recesses, ditches and earth embankments, the soil is totally destroyed, and rock outcrops show up. Disturbances of the sod cover due to road construction or even by all-terrain vehicles in these extreme conditions entail an accelerated development of linear erosion to form scours and gullies. Elimination of the canopy layer leads to an increase in surface heating, and to an acceleration of permafrost thawing. Swamping is accelerated on negative relief forms due to the increased entry of melt waters.

Influence of Ice on Soil Elemental Characterization via Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

Field portable X-ray fluorescence （PXRF） spectrometry has become an increasingly popular technique for in-situ elemental characterization of soils. The technique is fast, portable, and accurate, requiring minimal sample preparation and no consumables. However, soil moisture 〉 20% has been known to cause fluorescence denudation and error in elemental reporting and few studies have evaluated the presence of soil moisture in solid form as ice. Gelisols （USDA Soil Taxonomy）, permafrost-affected soils, cover a large amount of the land surface in the northern and southern hemispheres. Thus, the applicability of PXRF in those areas requires further investigation. PXRF was used to scan the elemental composition （Ba, Ca, Cr, Fe, K, Mn, Pb, Rb, Sr, Ti, Zn, and Zr） of 13 pedons in central and northern Alaska, USA. Four types of scans were completed： 1） in-situ frozen soil, 2） re-frozen soil in the laboratory, 3） melted soil/water mixture in the laboratory, and 4） moisture-corrected soil. All were then compared to oven dry soil scans. Results showed that the majority of PXRF readings from in-situ, re-frozen, and melted samples were significantly underestimated, compared to the readings on oven dry samples, owing to the interference expected by moisture. However, when the moisture contents were divided into 〉 40% and 〈 40〈 groups, the PXRF readings under different scanning conditions performed better in the group with 〈 40% moisture contents. Most elements of the scans on the melted samples with 〈 40% moisture contents acceptably compared to those of the dry samples, with R2 values ranging from 0.446 （Mn） to 0.930 （St）. However, underestimation of the melted samples was still quite apparent. Moisture-corrected sample PXRF readings provided the best correlation to those of the dry, ground samples as indicated by higher R2 values, lower root mean square errors （RMSEs）, and slopes closer to 1 in linear regression equations. However, the in-situ （frozen） sample scans did not differ appreciably from the melted sample scans in their correlations to dry sample scans in terms of R2 values （0.81 vs. 0.88）, RMSEs （1.06 vs. 0.85）, and slopes （0.88 vs. 0.92）. Notably, all of those relationships improved for the group with moisture contents 〈 40%.