Analysis of Structure and Textures of Anhydrite Mineral in Gachsaran Formation in Gotvand Area, Iran

Minerals are deposited when evaporation is greater than atmospheric precipitation. Calcium sulfates are one of the most important evaporative minerals which have been expanding over the past few years. In the formation of these minerals, various sedimentary and diagenetic processes play a role from shallow ridges to deep water. The research investigated the types of evaporative minerals (with an emphasis on anhydrite) in Gachsaran Formation in Gotvand dam range (25 km north of Shoushtar city). Investigating the thin sections of evaporative samples of this formation led to the identification of various anhydrite textures. Also, the existence of the main phases of calcium sulfate and NaCl by XRD analyses on a number of samples. The formation of anhydrite, gypsum and halite minerals in Gachsaran Formation in Lagoon and Sabkha environments was identified texture. The most important textures were laths anhydrite, nodule, isolated, radial anhydrite crystals, and porphyroblastic gypsum crystals, most of which are formed at the same stage of precipitation or in the early stages of diagenesis.

First report of TSR origin minerals filled in anhydrite dissolved pores in southeastern Ordos Basin

1.Objective Yican 1 well, drilled in Southeastern Ordos Basin by Oil & Gas Survey, China Geological Survey in 2014 produced 3.7×104 m3 natural gas daily, which is the most productive well in the area by far. However, the reservoir quality is poor compared with those of Jingbian gas field in the middle of the Basin, which is mainly caused by the pores filling in karst reservoir.

Calcium Carbonate and Ettringite Induced Efflorescence in CAC-Anhydrite Binary Systems

We focused on the efflorescence induced microstructural evolution of ettringite-rich systems prepared with calcium aluminate cement(CAC)and anhydrite.The effects of anhydrite on the visible efflorescence,and the corresponding capillary absorption of CAC-anhydrite mortars were revealed.The composition and microstructure of efflorescence-causing substances were investigated by optical microscope,in-situ Raman spectroscopy,scanning electron microscope,energy dispersive spectrometer,thermogravimetric analysis,and differential scanning calorimetry,at multi-scales.Results indicate that,besides the calcium carbonate,ettringite is another main component of efflorescence-causing substances.Compared with the neat CAC mortars,the addition of anhydrite has a significant effect on the degree of efflorescence by acting on the composition of hydration products and pore structure.In addition,methods are proposed for the prevention of efflorescence of CAC-anhydrite binary system.

Experimental studies on the pore structure and mechanical properties of anhydrite rock under freeze-thaw cycles

To study the deterioration mechanisms of anhydrite rock under the freeze-thaw weathering process,the physico-mechanical characteristics and microstructure evolutions of anhydrite samples were determined by a series of laboratory tests.Then,a descriptive-behavioral model was used to measure the integrity loss in anhydrite samples caused by cyclic freeze-thaw.Finally,the freeze-thaw damage mechanisms of anhydrite rock were revealed from the macro and micro aspects.The results show that the pore size of the anhydrite rock is mainly concentrated in the range of 0.001-10μm.As the number of freeze-thaw cycles increases,there is a growth in the proportion of macropores and mesopores.However,the proportion of micropores shows a declining trend.The relations of the uniaxial compressive strength,triaxial compressive strength,cohesion,and elastic modulus versus freeze-thaw cycles can be fitted by a decreasing exponential function,while the internal friction angle is basically unchanged with freezethaw cycles.With the increase of confining pressure,the disintegration rates of the compressive strength and the elastic modulus decrease,and the corresponding half-life values increase,which reveals that the increase of confining pressures could inhibit freeze-thaw damage to rocks.Moreover,it has been proven that the water chemical softening mechanism plays an essential role in the freeze-thaw damage to anhydrite rock.Furtherly,it is concluded that the freeze-thaw weathering process significantly influences the macroscopic and microscopic damages of anhydrite rock.

A graphical model for haloanhydrite components and P-wave velocity:A case study of haloanhydrites in Amu Darya Basin

Wave velocities in haloanhydrites are difficult to determine and significantly depend on the mineralogy. We used petrophysical parameters to study the wave velocity in haloanhydrites in the Amur Darya Basin and constructed a template of the relation between haloanhydrite mineralogy （anhydrite, salt, mudstone, and pore water） and wave velocities. We used the relation between the P-wave rnoduli ratio and porosity as constraint and constructed a graphical model （petrophysical template） for the relation between wave velocity, mineral content and porosity. We tested the graphical model using rock core and well logging data.

Mechanical and acoustic emission characteristics of anhydrite rock under freeze-thaw cycles

To study the damage mechanisms of anhydrite rock under freeze-thaw cycles, the physicalmechanical properties and the microcracking activities of anhydrite rock were investigated through mass variation, nuclear magnetic resonance, scanning electron microscope tests, and uniaxial compression combined with acoustic emission(AE) tests. Results show that with the increase of freeze-thaw processes,the mass, uniaxial compression strength, and elastic modulus of the anhydrite specimens decrease while the porosity and plasticity characteristics increase.For example, after 120 cycles, the uniaxial compression strength and elastic modulus decrease by 46.54% and 60.16%, and the porosity increase by 75%. Combined with the evolution trend of stressstrain curves and the detected events, three stages were labeled to investigate the AE characteristics in freeze-thaw weathered anhydrite rock. It is found that with the increase of freeze-thaw cycles, the proportions of AE counts in stage Ⅰ and stage Ⅱ show a decaying exponential trend. Contrarily, the proportion of AE counts in stage Ⅲ displays an exponential ascending trend. Meanwhile, as the freeze-thaw cycles increase, the low-frequency AE signals increase while the intermediate-frequency AE signals decrease. After 120 cycles, the proportion of low-frequency AE signals increases by 168.95%, and the proportion of intermediate-frequency AE signals reduces by 81.14%. It is concluded that the microtensile cracking events occupy a dominant position during the loading process. With the increase of freeze-thaw cycles, the b value of samples decreases.After 120 cycles, b value decreases by 27.2%, which means that the proportion of cracking events in rocks with small amplitude decreases. Finally, it is proposed that the freeze-thaw damage mechanism of anhydrite is also characterized by the water chemical softening effect.

Morphology, crystal structure and hydration of calcined and modified anhydrite

The effects of calcination and modification on the morphology （shapes and textures） and crystal structure of anhydrite powders were studied. The results show that, calcination at 100℃ causes anhydrite to disintegrate into smaller crystals, accompanied by a slight in- crease in d-spacing. Without calcination and modification, the solidification time and curing time of anhydrite are 15 and 77 h, respectively. After the treatment, however, the solidification time and curing time are shortened significantly to 9.5 and 14 rain, respectively. The com- pressive and flexural strengths of hydration products made from the treated anhydrite reach 10.2 and 2.0 MPa, respectively. The much shorter solidification and curing time make it possible to use anhydrite as a building and construction material.

Determination of Dimethylallylamine by Titration in Nonaqueous Solvent

The content of dimethylallylamine was determined using glacial acetic acid as solvent, acetic-formic mixture as an anhydrite, perchloric acid-glacial acetic acid as titrant, and 1% crystal violet in acetic acid as indicator in the presence of methylamine and dimethylamine The influences of inert constituents and water on the titration were investigated, and a complete analytical method was determined. The results showed that the determination error of total amines increased with water increasing, while the effect of water on the determination of dimethylallylamine was little when the amount of water was within 5%, the relative error was generally within 1%, and that the end-point was acutely when about 10% chloroform was added. Compared with gas chromatography, this method is simple, convenient and accurate.

Non-isothermal Melt Crystallization Kinetics of Anhydrite-Filled Polypropylene Composites

The non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of polypropylene （PP）, PP/anhydrite composites were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） with various cooling rates. The Avrami analysis modified by Jeziorny and a method developed by Mo were employed to describe the non-isothermal crystallization process of these samples. The difference in the exponent n between PP and PP/anhydrite composites indicated that non-isothermal kinetic crystallization corresponded to tri-dimensional growth with heterogeneous nucleation. The values of half-time, Zc and F（T） showed that the crystallization rate increased with the increasing of cooling rates for PP and PP/anhydrite composites, but the crystallization rate of PP/anhydrite composites was faster than that of PP at a given cooling rate. The method developed by Ozawa did not describe the non-isothermal crystallization process of PP very well. Moreover, the method proposed by Kissinger was used to evaluate the activation energy of the mentioned samples. The result showed that the activation energy of PP/anhydrite was greatly larger than that of PP.

STUDY OF THE THERMODYNAMICS DURING THE HYDRATION AND HARDENING OF ANHYDRITE

The process of hydration and hardening of the anhydrite,and the condition of practical use of its products have been studied by way of the thermodyna- mic calculation.The calculated results show that the hydration reaction of anhydrite is a spontaneous process and follows the dissolution-crystallization mechanism it is also shown that the drying-curing temperature of the anhydrite products can not be higher than 85℃ and the temperature of practical use of its products can't be higher than 48℃ under the moist environment.

STUDIES ON THE SURFACE MODIFICATION OF ANHYDRITE

The lack of the early phase gelation property has limited the application of anhydrite as building material products. The use of additives, however, activates the anhydrite surfaces and results in the occurrence of early phase gelation. Under different surface modification conditions,the solubility of anhydrite in water has been measured and it has indicated a correlation between the anhydrite surface activity and its solubility in water. This relationship can be utilized to further study the anhydrite surface activation.

Genesis of anhydrite in hydrothermally altered basalt from the East Pacific Rise near 13°N

This study reports the occurrence of anhydrite in hydrothermally altered pillow basalt （12°50.55＇N, 103°57.62＇W, water depth 2 480 m）, which may have been produced in the basalt during seawater-basalt interaction in the laboratory. The existence of anhydrite in the altered basalt indicates extensive high- temperature hydrothermal alteration at the surface of seafloor pillow basalt. Microprobe analysis shows significant chemical zoning in the hydrothermally altered pillow basalt, in which Ca, Si and A1 contents de- crease and P, Fe, Mn, Cr and S contents increase from fresh basalt to altered basalt. The negative correlation between Rb-Sr and Li-Sr, and negative correlation between Li-Ca and Rb-Ca in the high-temperature vent fuids show that these fluids underwent anhydrite precipitation before fluid jetting due to mixing with sea- water in the sub-seafloor. Based on these observations, we show that not all Ca in the anhydrite comes from basalt in the reaction zone, and that the basalts on the seafloor or in the upflow zone may also provide Ca for anhydrite.

SLAG CEMENT REINFORCED BY THE COMBINATION DOPING OF LIMESTONE AND ANHYDRITE

The hydration performances of slag cement mixed by limestone and anhydrite have been studied. The phase compositions and microstructures of the hydrates were determined and analysed by XRD and SEM. It is discovered that when slag cement is mixed with limestone and anhydrite, ihe hydrations of the clinker and slag are speeded. The amount of ettringite and hydrate calcium silicate are increased and the mechanical strength of slag cement are enchanced.

Dehydration of Gypsum Rock by Solar Energy: Preliminary Study

The dehydration process of gypsum rock was studied under concentrated solar energy by using a Fresnel lens with power density of 260 Wcm-2. Temperatures higher than 700。C were attained for 1 min of solar exposure. The effect of grain size of sample and radiation exposure time on the formation of bassanite and anhydrite was studied by XRD. The complete transformation of dihydrate into hemihydrate and/or anhydrate phases is complete for the finer size sample. Plaster composed of 92.7% of anhydrite and 7.3% of bassanite was obtained for 5 min of solar exposure. Morphological and textural modifications were followed by SEM and interferometric/confocal profilometer.

Sr Isotopes and REEs Geochemistry of Anhydrites from L Vent Black Smoker Chimney, East Pacific Rise 9oN–10oN

High resolution sampling, for Sr isotope and REE analyses, was carried out along a transaction of L vent chimney collected from East Pacific Rise 9oN–10oN. Sr isotopes show these anhydrites are precipitated from a mixture between hydrothermal fluid and seawater. The calculated relative proportion of seawater and hydrothermal fluid shows that the mixing is heterogeneous on the transection of the L vent chimney. Anhydrites from the chimney show uniform chondrite-normalized REE pattern with enrichment of LREE and positive Eu anomaly. While normalized to the REE of end-member hydrothermal fluid, anhydrites also show uniform REE pattern but with negative Eu anomaly and enrichment of HREE. Combining previous studies on REEs of hydrothermal fluids from different hydrothermal systems and the hydrothermal fluid data from this region, we suggested that REE-anion complexing, rather than crystallography controlling, is the main factor that controls the REE partition behavior in the anhydrite during its precipitation from the mixture of hydrothermal fluid and seawater.

High-temperature phases of pyrophyllite and their evolutionary characteristics

WITH the increase of heating temperature, phase of pyrophyllite will undergo a series of transformations. Former scholars have done some work in this respect; the temperature spans,however, were normally not more than 1150℃ and no relatively comprehensive results have been reported. Thus, the features of the phases from indoor temperature to melting point (1710℃±) for pyrophyllite and the entire evolutionary process of the phases are uncertain.