ESR and U-series ages of coral reef samples from shallow drill holes in the South China Sea

The ages of coral reef samples from several shallow drill holes in the South China Sea are determined by ESR and U-series (230Th/234U) methods. The experimental results show ideal agreement between ESR and U-series ages and that the coral reefs were formed in the early Holocene. In the determination of natural total dose of coral reef by use of the additive dose method good results can be obtained by exponential fitting, no matter how the effect of dose saturation is. It was found that the ratio of the natural ESR signal intensity ( I0) to the ESR signal intensity at dose saturation ( Imax) of sample can reflect the significance of a irradiation efficiency-k value. Using the k value of sample determined by the formula given in this paper, the precision of ESR dating of marine carbonates can be improved.

An optimization method of fidelity parameters of formation fluid sampling cylinder while drilling

A design idea of fidelity sampling cylinder while drilling based on surface nitrogen precharging and supplemented by downhole pressurization was proposed, and the working mode and optimization method of sampling parameters were discussed. The nitrogen chamber in the sampling cylinder functions as an energy storage air cushion, which can supplement the pressure loss caused by temperature change in the sampling process to some extent. The downhole pressurization is to press the sample into the sample chamber as soon as possible, and further increase the pressure of sample to make up for the pressure that the nitrogen chamber cannot provide. Through the analysis of working mode of the sampling fidelity cylinder, the non-ideal gas state equation was used to deduce and calculate the optimal values of fidelity parameters such as pre-charged nitrogen pressure, downhole pressurization amount and sampling volume according to whether the bubble point pressure of the sampling fluid was known and on-site emergency sampling situation. Besides, the influences of ground temperature on fidelity parameters were analyzed, and corresponding correction methods were put forward. The research shows that the fidelity sampling cylinder while drilling can effectively improve the fidelity of the sample. When the formation fluid sample reaches the surface, it can basically ensure that the sample does not change in physical phase state and keeps the same chemical components in the underground formation.

Analysis of Chang’e-5 lunar core drilling process

Chang’e-5 explorer successfully acquired lunar regolith core samples from depths of greater than 1 m of lunar surface.This study analyzed the lunar core drilling process based on the telemetry data,image information,and returned samples to optimize the sampling device design and enhance the understanding of the lunar regolith.In particular,a prediction method for the projected drilling path and local terrain fitting of drilling dip angle was proposed based on the flight events recorded during the core drilling process and the image information acquired before,during,and after sampling.The results revealed that the drilling dip angle of Chang’e-5 was approximately2.3.,and the deviation of the drilling length and depth was less than 2 mm.For continuous drilling,a fusion method based on telemetry data and image information was applied to determine the demarcation point of drilling with and without the lunar soil.The position of the demarcation point implied that the drilling point remained at approximately 6 mm loose soil,thereby lagging the action of the force response.Additionally,a characteristic parameter comparison method was proposed for the lunar and ground drilling to analyze the status of the lunar soil.Furthermore,the analysis results revealed that the majority of the Chang’e-5 drilling samples were derived from 0–73.8 cm below the lunar surface and few samples were extracted below 73.8 cm,as the drilling encountered several rocky regions.Moreover,the drilling point exhibited two prominent stratification variations at~28.7 cm and~70 cm below the lunar surface.Ultimately,the preliminary relationship between sample dissected position in soft tube and drilling displacement was analyzed.The segmented estimation results can support research on subsurface lunar soil.