Geological Work Research Articles

Photogrammetry with a Drone “DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus”: 3D Model of an Area Deformed by Neotectonics in the Venezuelan Andes

A commercial drone was used to acquire a series of images in an area in the Venezuelan Andes characterized by the deformation of a regional strike-slip fault. The digital model obtained by processing the images has allowed to obtain quantitative measurements of the fault displacement and to test geological concepts related to the structure evolution. The test has proven several benefits in applying the drone technology to support the classic geological field work.

The Ore Deposit 3D Modelling, New Effective Solution in the Optimization of Geological and Mining Works

Despite its small area, Albania is rich in mineral deposits. One of these is Kçira's copper ore deposit located about 12 km west of Puka. The core tools for developing and mining in local or regional-scale 3D common earth models for the purpose of targeting new ore or specific geologic relationships are now here. It is now incumbent on the industry, with its wealth of knowledge of specific ore forming processes, its rich archive of 3D data sets, and with a definite need to find deeper ore, to capitalize on this new technology to achieve its expected goals, enhancing the mineral targeting process and ultimately increasing mineral wealth. The emerging geo-modelling softwares for automating the model construction process, are leaving the experts free time to interpret and test exploration criteria. Due to the rapid technological change it is easier to process data and create a 3D model of the mineral body, update in real time, also increasing the accuracy of calculating the quantity of metals in the mineral resource. This article treats the 3D modelling of the copper ore using the Maping and General mining software. This method of modelling ore bodies reduces the time and cost for research and exploitation by facilitating the work of geologists, institutions and companies on their respective functions. Geological modelling is a complex sub-discipline of geology which integrates structural geology, sedimentology, paleo climatology, metallogeny, diagenesis etc. The model that we obtain for this mineral deposit (based on implicit and explicit methods) is important because it allows us to calculate and represent accurately the amount of copper metal, in-citu and mining resources.

我国矿井水文地质工作面临的挑战与展望

以《煤矿防治水规定》为准则，以水文地质理论为指导，从矿井高效安全生产、经济实用的角度出发，通过分析现阶段我国矿井水文地质工作的现状，指出我国矿井水文地质工作面临的六大挑战，并且提出切实可行的展望。分析认为，只有通过建立以技术和管理为核心的综合性水文地质工作体系，充分利用和发挥现有的技术以及设备，并且不断的探索进取，寻求更加优化的矿井水文地质工作技术、体系，才能从根本上解决矿井水害以及矿井排供水等问题。 Based on the Provisions for Mine Water Prevention and Control, guided by the hydrogeology theory, from the perspective of efficient, safe, economic and practical coal mine production, this paper analyzed the present situation of mine hydrogeological work in China, pointed out the six challenges facing mine hydrogeological work in China and put forward the feasible countermeasure and prospect. The analysis suggests that only by establishing the integrated hydrological geological work system based on the technology and management, making full use of the existing technology and equipment, and continuously exploring and seeking more optimization system and technology of mine hydrogeology work, can the problem of mine water disasters and mine drainage water be fundamentally solved.

Darwin y el relleno de los valles andinos de Mendoza

En 1835, aprovechando una escala en Valparaíso (Chile) del Beagle, Charles Darwin cruzó los Andes hacia Mendoza, travesía durante la cual realizó un gran número de observaciones geológicas. La importancia de este viaje fue muy grande para el desarrollo de las ideas científicas de Darwin, y para el conocimiento geológico sobre los Andes. En este trabajo, se intenta indagar sobre el método de trabajo geológico de Darwin, a partir de algunos comentarios publicados en sus libros, que resultaron equivocados. Darwin interpretó el relleno de valles andinos de Mendoza, como el del río Tunuyán, como de origen marino. Actualmente sabemos que estos conglomerados son de origen glacifluvial. Lamentablemente, Darwin no brindó una explicación detallada sobre cómo llegó a concluir que los conglomerados eran de origen marino. Seguramente el debate sobre el origen de los depósitos aluviales y diluviales, una de las grandes polémicas geológicas de la primera mitad del siglo XIX, tuvo alguna influencia en sus razonamientos. Se especula en este trabajo que Darwin se basó en la literatura geológica británica y en sus observaciones de los fiordos del sur de la Patagonia. De este modo, la interpretación del origen marino de los conglomerados de los valles andinos nos muestra dos aspectos del pensamiento geológico de Darwin: por un lado, su apoyo en los maestros británicos de la disciplina (Lyell, Sedgwick, Buckland, y Greenough, entre otros); por otro lado, el uso de la analogía con ejemplos actuales para completar la fragmentaria información que el registro geológico nos brinda del pasado.

Marine geology data accessibility in the European Framework: The I.G.M.E. participation in the GEO-SEAS project.

During more than 30 years of activity and participation in numerous research projects, the Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration of Greece has carried out extensive work in marine geology and a vast amount of data has been collected. In order for those data to be available and used by the international scientific community, a need for standardization and harmonization was imminent. Towards this scope IGME, along with 25 other marine geological and geophysical data centres, located in 17 European maritime countries, participated in the GEO-SEAS project: the implementation of an e-infrastructure. The aim of the project was to enable users to identify, locate and access pan-European, harmonised and federated marine geological and geophysical datasets and derived data products held by the data centres through a single common data portal. All available data have been harmonized according to the GEO-SEAS guidelines and standards. Detailed metadata files were created, accompanied by the corresponding data and additional information files. The standardization, harmonization and provision of data and metadata, carried out through the GEO-SEAS project, are aligned with European directives and recent large-scale framework programs on global and European scales.

Predicting Performance in an Advanced Undergraduate Geological Field Camp Experience

ABSTRACTThis study examined the factors that contribute to students' success in conducting geological field work. Undergraduate students (n = 49; 51% female; mean age = 22 y) who were enrolled in the 5-wk State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego) geology field program volunteered to participate in this study. At the beginning of the field program, students completed a series of questionnaires inquiring about their academic record and their personal attitudes and beliefs. Next, participants completed a continuous series of geological field activities across 35 d in two locations in the northeastern U.S. Finally, multiple instructors independently rated students' field work performance and assigned final field program grades. Findings indicated that factors such as students' cumulative grade point averages and self-perceived preparedness for field work did not predict higher final field program grades. Instead, self-reported indices of motivation, academic self-concept, and self-efficacy predicted those grades. Moreover, evidence emerged that two domain-specific factors—intellectual orientation and achievement orientation—were uniquely associated with students' final field work grades. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of instruction, learning, and professional employment.

Text Content Pushing Technology Research Based on Location and Topic

In the field, geological workers usually want to obtain related geological background information in the working area quickly and accurately. This information exists in the massive geological data, text data is described in natural language accounted for a large proportion. This paper studied location information extracting method in the mass text data; proposed a geographic location—geological content—geological content related algorithm based on Spark and Mapreduce2, finally classified content by using KNN, and built the content pushing system based on location and topic. It is running in the geological survey cloud, and we have gained a good effect in testing by using real geological data.

Development of Technology for Enrichment of Silver Containing Ores

The progress of Georgian economics is substantially associated with a development of new deposits of mineral resources. Among them is the David-Gareji deposit where at present the intensive searching geological works are performed. The work goal involves the elaboration of the technology for processing of silver-containing quartz-barite ores. Without its development the mining of more valuable gold-polymetallic ores is impossible. Because of ore complexity silver and barite are considered in a common technological aspect. The investigations were carried out on the representative samples of quartz-barite ores containing 78-88 g/ton of silver and 27-29 % of silver is a nugget in the form of the simple sulphides and chlorides. The ore is characterized by fine coalescence of barite and ore-generating minerals. Non-ferrous metals haven't any industrial value because of their very low content. Therefore, for the processing of the ores under study the direct selective scheme of flotation enrichment was chosen and the formula of optimal reagent regime was elaborated. Potassium xanthogenate is used as a collector for flotation of silver minerals and pine oil- as a foaming agent. The effect of the pulp - pH and medium temperature on silver flotation was studied. It was established that the silver is actively floats in neutral medium. For barite flotation the various collectors were tested: sulfidezid cotton oil-soap stock, soaps of fatty acids and alkyl sulphates of C12 - C16 row, among the “Baritol” is the most efficient one. Depression of the barren rock was carried out by liquid glass in alkaline medium. The effect of pulp pH on barite flotation has been investigated. The best results were obtained at pH=8.5. The increase of the pulp alkalinity has no essential effect on the indexes of the barite enrichment. Conditional concentrate of the barite is obtained by two fold purification of the main flotation concentrate by the addition of the liquid glass to the re-purification operations. On the basis of laboratory investigations for silver-containing ores of David-Gareji deposit the technological scheme is recommended which implies the ore milling to 82 % class -074 mm, flotation of the silver minerals and the barite flotation from the tails of this operation by two-fold re-purification of the rough concentrate. The optimal parameters of the receipt of the reagent regime are: potassium butylxantogenate and pine oil-in the silver flotation; sodium carbonate, liquid glass, “Baritol”- in the barite main flotation and liquid glass in the repurification operations. Silver concentrate containing 680 g/ton of silver by extraction of 92.21% and barite concentrate, content - 92.11%, extraction - 81.85% are obtained.

Tribute by the Algerian Geologists to Professor Michel Durand-Delga (1923-2012). The geological work of Michel Durand-Delga in Algeria

Michel Durand-Delga made a success of an outstanding career in geology. His route might be considered as one of a pioneer of a new kind. He set a meticulous rhythm in this discipline of the Earth sciences, particularly in Algeria, the country he loved for its geology, landscapes and population. The first of his fructuous works was published in 1948 on the geology of the ‘Petite Kabylie’ and he continued, for most of his life, to work very closely on this zone which he characterized, in a definitive way, as different from the African continent with at first structural then stratigraphical evidence. He highlighted the Kabylian thrust where the northern domain (internal, also called Kabyle) overlaps a southern domain (external or African). All the geological information that came later, either produced by him or later by his students and opponents, supported this great hypothesis which today has become a reliable paradigm.

Sydney Street West: a first place for science in Wellington

ABSTRACTThe Colonial Museum accommodated geological work and a small Colonial Laboratory adjacent was used for analytical chemistry in Sydney Street West from 1865. A larger Colonial Laboratory was built in 1905, from which activities soon expanded into the neighbouring ‘Vaccine Station’ and ‘Museum House’. The establishment of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in 1926 and the extension of Bowen Street in the 1930s prompted the acquisition of residential properties built by Walter Godfrey Mantell (the son of scientist and politician Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell) and other neighbouring houses for scientific purposes. DSIR divisions decamped in the 1950s and 1960s, and the buildings were demolished, replaced by high-rise offices and a motorway overbridge.

GPS velocities and the construction of the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes

AbstractGPS velocities across the northeast trending Eastern Cordillera of Colombia show oblique convergence at 8.8 ± 1.7 mm/yr, consisting of 8.0 ± 1.7 mm/yr of right‐lateral strike‐slip shear along the mountain range and 3.7 ± 0.3 mm/yr of northwest southeast shortening. Faster convergence occurs only at the northeast end of the Cordillera, where its eastern edge trends northwest and the highest mountains lie. The strike‐slip shear corroborates geologic work suggesting such movement southwest and northeast of the range. Given the ~200 km width of the Eastern Cordillera, the ~100–150 km of crustal shortening inferred from balanced cross sections and implied by recent estimates of crustal thickness would require ~25–40 Myr of shortening at ~4 mm/yr. The present‐day GPS measurements, therefore, are inconsistent with the inference, based on paleobotanical observations that the entire Eastern Cordillera rose 1500–2500 m since 3–6 Ma and called for a different interpretation of those data.

Active interseismic shallow deformation of the Pingting terraces (Longitudinal Valley – Eastern Taiwan) from UAV high-resolution topographic data combined with InSAR time series

ABSTRACTWe focus herein on the location, characterization and the quantification of the most active structural feature of Taiwan: the Longitudinal Valley Fault that corresponds to the suture in between the Philippine and Eurasian Plates. In order to determine and monitor its present inter-seismic deformation, we focus on the Pingting Terraces area, situated in the South Longitudinal Valley (Eastern Taiwan). We first determine the structural geometry issued from both photo-interpretation deduced from new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) high-resolution Digital Terrain Model data that we acquired (34.78 km2 with 7.73 cm ground sampling distance), combined with geological field work. In order to characterize and quantify the present deformational patterns over the Pingting terraces, we used an InSAR time series Interferometry algorithm (MT-InSAR) applied to nine L-band SAR images from ALOS satellite acquired over the period 2007–2010. The unprecedented density of measurements (about 120 points per km2 for a total of 6,400 points) gives a continuous overview of the inter-seismic shallow deformation. The structural geometry combined with the mean velocity map (MT-InSAR) reveals two clear active faults situated above the scarps of the Pingting terraces and responsible for up to 7 and 20 mm/yr velocity offset along the radar line of sight. A temporal analysis of the deformation is performed with one measurement at each SAR acquisition date, giving major improvements in the characterization and quantification of the Longitudinal Valley active Fault trace.

Review of the history of higher education in geology during the past 100 years in China

Abstract Higher education in geology has been available for more than 100 years in China and many scholars have researched the history of geological education. This paper considers the development of geological education in China, reviews the research and summarizes the characteristics of various studies. H.T. Chang (1877–1951), one of the founders of Chinese geology, once said: Education is the foundation for the development of all the fields. The reason for past failures is due to the fact that the government has not placed enough emphasis on education. The achievements of geological work after 1912, the year the Republic of China was founded, are the result of education. If we want to achieve more, we need to place more emphasis on education. ( Chang 1937, pp. 41–42) Over much of this time, scholars have reviewed its history. This period can be broadly divided into three stages: from the 1920s to 1949; from 1949 to 1976; and from the 1980s to the present day.

Petrology and zircon U-Pb geochronology of metamorphic massifs around the middle segment of the Tan-Lu fault to define the boundary between the North and South China blocks

The Tan-Lu fault (TLF) is a significant linear structure of eastern China. The middle segment of the TLF in the northern Anhui Province separates the North China Block (NCB) and South China Block (SCB). Lack of geological work makes the plate boundary here ambiguous. Detailed field survey and laboratory analyses have been conducted to constrain the formation and evolution of the TLF. To the west of the TLF, the Wuhe massif underwent a granulite facies metamorphism with T=778–836°C, P=1.0–1.2GPa during 2.41–2.43Ga according to LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon dating. On the contrary, to the east of the TLF, the Zhangbaling massif suffered a greenschist to lower amphibolite facies metamorphism with the average metamorphic temperature at around 340–440°C, with the protolith igneous ages of ca. 750Ma. These differences indicate that the two massifs belong to the different blocks. Furthermore, the granitic gneiss in the central part of TLF gives three populations of zircon U-Pb age at 667–504Ma, 228±2Ma and 211±2Ma, respectively. The later two groups of spectra correspond to the periods of subduction and exhumation of the Dabie massif (245–200Ma). Combined with previous study, the precise plate boundary between NCB and SCB has been delineated as the Zhuding-Shimenshan fault, and the initial time of the motion for the TLF is also discussed.

GENERAL REVIEW OF THE GENETIC AND GEOLOGICAL-ECONOMIC MODELING OF THE MINERAL DEPOSITS OF SERBIA

Changed marketing and economy-ambiental conditions of planning, realization and evaluation of the geological exploration, order quantitative different approach in which are integral implied geology important elements of the deposit of mineral row materials, based the genetic characteristics and marketing necessary question of economy payfull. The conditions and the way of origin the deposit, respectively genetic characteristics, directly across the geological specific of the deposits reflect on the conception and methodology of their geological exploration. On the other side, the changed market conditions, after made community political changes in Serbia, together with the transition problems, in the first plan propound the profitability of the geological work and the results of the geological explorations. In such economy-economic defined conditions of the valorization of mineral resources of Serbia, especially important role has the connected genetic and geological–economic modelling of the deposits of the mineral row materials.

New insights on structure and stratigraphic interpretation for assessing the hydrocarbon potentiality of the offshore Nile Delta basin, Egypt

The study area lies around the petroleum provinces of the Egyptian Offshore Nile Delta basin. The existing exploration data are sparse, and any effort made on the strati-structural interpretation is challenging for exploratory drilling campaigns, even with meager well control. Keeping in view the issues and major challenges, the authors propose new methodologies, tools and new insights into the interpretation of the existing data and information, to make the study area more attractive for investors and detailed exploration studies. The published geological work existing within the vicinity of the study area is an added value to the new insights of current interpretation and knowledge acquisition. Pliocene–Pleistocene section is the main target in the study area, since it has quality reservoirs, holding commercial hydrocarbons. Pre-salt source rocks may have charged the reservoirs in the study area. Structural complexities and heterogeneities at target levels are likely to impact the seismic wavelet property intricacies and thus the data processing qualities. Post- and pre-salt tectonics in the northern part of Sinai, the Nile Cone, and how they affect the structural framework and the seismic interpretation work in the study area are described. For the purpose of understanding the combinational trapping mechanism, stratigraphic features and the structural geology are integrated using new tools and technologies. Several strati-structural plays are interpreted in the study area that support the detailed exploration campaigns, and the existing major hydrocarbon plays associated within shelf, slope and deep-marine geological events in nearby offshore regions. Diapir salt, rotated fault blocks and growth faults within syn-sediment systems are other plays to be investigated. The study is an effort of compiled work from many published sources, putting all ideas into a positive perspective and has better understanding of new opportunities, leads and prospects for investment purposes in the Nile Delta offshore basin.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, Revisited

Abstract The Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), the dominant year-round pattern of monthly North Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) variability, is an important target of ongoing research within the meteorological and climate dynamics communities and is central to the work of many geologists, ecologists, natural resource managers, and social scientists. Research over the last 15 years has led to an emerging consensus: the PDO is not a single phenomenon, but is instead the result of a combination of different physical processes, including both remote tropical forcing and local North Pacific atmosphere–ocean interactions, which operate on different time scales to drive similar PDO-like SST anomaly patterns. How these processes combine to generate the observed PDO evolution, including apparent regime shifts, is shown using simple autoregressive models of increasing spatial complexity. Simulations of recent climate in coupled GCMs are able to capture many aspects of the PDO, but do so based on a balance of processes often more independent of the tropics than is observed. Finally, it is suggested that the assessment of PDO-related regional climate impacts, reconstruction of PDO-related variability into the past with proxy records, and diagnosis of Pacific variability within coupled GCMs should all account for the effects of these different processes, which only partly represent the direct forcing of the atmosphere by North Pacific Ocean SSTs.

The Development and Implementation of Geological Prediction Information Management System for Underground Engineering

Advance detection is the main means of geological work to predict the adverse geological bodies behind the working face. In order to realize the digitalized management of various types of advanced detection forecast information, improve the success rate of interpretation via strengthening personnel exchanges among interpretation maps. This paper examines nine latest patents awarded. Taking GOOGLE EARTH as the secondary development platform, this paper establishes the information management system for advance detection forecast of underground engineering, which achieves sort management of various types of advanced detection information, the information exchange and sharing of various types of advanced prediction among different users and 3D simulation of underground engineering. Finally, this system has been successfully applied in Ma-shang-shao tunnel at Guizhou segment of Shanghai-Kunming railway passenger line. Keywords: Underground engineering, advance prediction, secondary development, information management system.

Castel di Sangro-Scontrone field camp – structural and applied geomorphology

ABSTRACTThe Geomorphological Field Camp 2014 in the Castel di Sangro-Scontrone area is the result of geological and geomorphological teaching field work activities carried out in Central Italy by a group of 23 students attending the Structural Geomorphology and Applied Geomorphology courses (Master's Degree in Geological Science and Technology of the Università degli Studi ‘G. d'Annunzio’ Chieti-Pescara, Italy, Department of Engineering and Geology). The Field Camp 2014 was organized in May 2014, following regular classes held during the fall term. General activities for the field camp were developed over four main stages: (1) preliminary analysis of the regional geological and geomorphological setting of the area; (2) preliminary activities for the analysis of the local area (orography, hydrography and photogeology investigations, and geographical information system processing); (3) field work, focused on the analysis of a specific issue concerning structural geomorphology or applied geomorphology (e.g. landscape evolution, river channel change, landslide distribution, and flood hazard); and (4) post-field work production of the map. Finally, the fundamental role of field work in the analysis of landscape and in land management was outlined: indeed, the overall field camp enhanced the crucial role of field-based learning for young geomorphologists in order to acquire a strong sensitivity to geomorphological processes and landscape evolution.

Geomorphological studies of Jovan Cvijic in Bulgaria

The geomorphologic studies of Jovan Cvijić in Bulgaria are crucial for many Earth scientists from the beginning of the 20th century. Cvijić laid the foundations of the morphotectonic division of the Balkan Peninsula, clarified a number of tectonic and glacial processes and offered proof that there were traces of the Wurm glaciation in Rila Mountain. His findings on the geographical scope of the last glacial period on the Balkan Peninsula are largely based on his research in the Rila and Pirin mountains in Bulgaria. He is the first scientist to define the snow line altitude during the Wurm glacial stage in Balkan Mountains and discover the glacial origin of high mountain lakes there. Many of his theories on relief evolution in the region remain very important to the development of geology and geomorphology in all Balkan countries. In this paper, we provide a review of some publications by Jovan Cvijić that relate to the territory of Bulgaria and analyze the impact of his findings on the work of Bulgarian geologists and geomorphologists.