Faunal composition and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of a Middle–Late Triassic boundary assemblage in the Pyrenean basin (Catalonia, NE Spain)

The Ladinian–Carnian transition in the Tethys domain was accompanied by an important environmental change representing a milestone in the climate evolution of the Triassic. However, estimations on paleodiversity composition and paleoenvironmental conditions across this interval are scarce in marine settings due to the lack of fossil-bearing successions. In this work, a refined paleontological and sedimentological study has allowed us to better characterize a well-preserved marine ?Ladinian–Carnian carbonate succession in the South Central Pyrenees (Odèn site, Catalonia, NE Spain). Vertebrate faunas include numerous actinopterygian specimens, forming an assemblage composed of at least four taxa: Peltopleurus cf. P. nuptialis Lombardo, 1999, Saurichthys sp., Colobodus giganteus (Beltan, 1972), and an indeterminate halecomorph. Specimens belonging to the genus Peltopleurus are dominant; the long-snouted Saurichthys, the halecomorph, and the large-bodied Colobodus giganteus are less abundant. Tetrapod remains are scarcely present and are assigned to sauropterygians. Invertebrate faunas include bivalves (Pseudocorbula gregaria [Münster in Goldfuss, 1838]) and brachiopods (Lingula sp.). The fossil assemblage was recovered from organic-rich laminated silty mudstone layers. Sedimentological and textural analyses suggest that fossil biotas were deposited below the fair-weather wave base in shallow subtidal coastal settings. These environments were sporadically sourced by silt/clay. The age of the Odèn site, on the basis of the recovered fauna, is assigned to the ?late Ladinian–middle Carnian (Middle–Late Triassic), which is in agreement with previously published ages based on palynomorph data. The refined integration of paleontological, sedimentological, and biostratigraphic data from the Odèn site and other vertebrate-bearing localities in the Tethys domain can help better constrain the paleoenvironmental conditions and paleogeographical configuration impacting ecosystem diversity during the late Ladinian–Carnian interval.

Ore Features and Gold Occurrence of the Manlonggou Gold Deposit, Southeast Yunnan Province, China

The Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi “Golden Triangle” is one of the famous Carlin-type gold deposits in China and even in the world. Manlonggou gold deposit is a newly discovered gold deposit in this area. The host rocks are mainly lithic quartz sandstone, siltstone and silty mudstone above Caledonian unconformity. The main minerals in ores are natural gold, limonite, hematite, pyrite and so on. The occurrence state of gold is fine exposed and semi-exposed natural gold, as well as gold encased by limonite, carbonate, quartz and silicate minerals. The deposit can be a fine grain hydrothermal altered gold deposit with the origin of tectonic-medium-low temperature hydrothermal percolation.

Investigation into the Pore Structure and Multifractal Characteristics of Shale Reservoirs through N2 Adsorption: An Application in the Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin, China

To understand the pore structure and heterogeneity of pore size distribution (PSD) is essential for revealing fluid mechanics and evaluating the utilization of unconventional resources. In this study, there are multiple shale examples collected from the Chang 7 section in the Ordos Basin for the investigation was conducted on the basis of various experiments on total organic carbon (TOC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and nitrogen gas adsorption, through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and multifractal method. The multifractal characteristic parameters, including the width of singularity spectra ( Δ α ), Hurst exponent ( H ), D 1 / D 0 , and nitrogen gas adsorption, were used to find out about the characteristics of pore development and to quantify the complexity and heterogeneity of pore structure. Depending on the exact mineral composition, the Yanchang Formation of Chang 7 shales is classified into either silty mudstone (SM) or muddy siltstone lithofacies (MS). According to the investigative results, the Chang 7 lacustrine shale features a complex pore system with the pores ranging from 1.5 to 10 nm in diameter. Besides, mesopores contribute significantly to the total pore volume (TPV) and total surface area (TSA). As for TPV and TSA of the SM lithofacies in the samples under investigation, they are nearly 1.09–1.78 and 0.80–1.72 times greater as compared to the MS lithofacies samples. The dominant types of reservoir spaces include organic matter (OM) pore and interparticle pore which are related to inorganic minerals. The value of Δ α is higher for MS lithofacies than for SM lithofacies, indicating a greater heterogeneity of PSD in the MS lithofacies. The pore structure of MS lithofacies is determined mainly by TOC and siliceous mineral content, whereas the influencing factors for SM lithofacies are TOC and clay mineral content. There is a significant relationship between multifractal parameters and pore structure parameters for both SM and MS lithofacies. The TOC of SM and MS lithofacies exhibits a close correlation with Δ α , suggesting that the pores in organic matter are dominated by those nanopores with a complex and heterogeneous pore structure. The rock composition of the lithofacies can affect Δ α to a varying extent, which means that the minerals have an evident impact on the heterogeneity of MS and SM lithofacies.

The Critical Indicator of Red-Bed Soft Rocks in Deterioration Process Induced by Water Basing on Renormalization Group Theory

The internal damage of red-bed soft rock induced by water is pervasive. The accumulation, growth, and localization of damage is a multi-scale process that can lead to significant strength loss in red-bed soft rock. Yet, research on the critical state of deterioration process considering multi-scale failure is limited due to high degree of system freedom. Renormalization group theory is an effective approach to find critical point of phase transition in a disordered system. To apply renormalization group theory in red-bed soft rocks, this article firstly analyzed their microstructures. Then, the granular unit model and stripy unit model are proposed to describe the self-similar characteristics of red-bed soft rocks. The calculation results based on renormalization group theory are consistent with the experimental results. The critical reductions of strength induced by water are 60% in light-yellow silty mudstone and 80% in grey silty mudstone. In addition, the critical state of damage propagation caused by stress is also studied and the analytical solution is derived. Results show that the renormalization group theory can effectively couple the micro damage and strength deterioration which provides guidance to the engineering.

Mixing Ratios and Cementing Mechanism of Similar Silty Mudstone Materials for Model Tests

The similarity model test is one of the important means to study the engineering properties of soft rock. This study aims to develop similar materials for silty mudstone, which has characteristics of low strength and water expansion, based on traditional materials including gypsum, barite powder, clay minerals, and distilled water. The orthogonal design method was used to determine the mixing ratios of the similar materials. The density, uniaxial compressive strength, tensile strength, elastic modulus, and Poisson’s ratio were selected as control indicators of the similar materials. The results show that the water content is the dominant factor for the density, tensile strength, elastic modulus, and Poisson’s ratio of the similar materials of silty mudstone, while the gypsum content is the dominant factor for the uniaxial compressive strength. The physical and mechanical properties of the similar material samples with water content of 19%, barite powder ratio of 32%, and gypsum mass of 250 g show good similarity to those of the raw silty mudstone. The water absorption and expansibility of similar materials with clay mineral ratio of 12% are consistent with those of the raw silty mudstone. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation indicates that the similar material with optimal mixing ratios exhibits a similar microstructure to that of silty mudstone.

Early Cambrian (Stage 4) brachiopods from the Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of South China

Diverse and abundant fossil taxa have been described in the lower Cambrian Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of Hubei Province, South China, but the taxonomy and diversity of the co-occurring brachiopod fauna are still far from clear. Here we describe the brachiopod fauna recovered from the Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of South China, including representatives of the subphylum Linguliformea: linguloids (Lingulellotreta ergalievi, Eoobolus malongensis, and Neobolidae gen. indet. sp. indet.), and an acrotretoid (Linnarssonia sapushanensis); and representatives from the subphylum Rhynchonelliformea: the calcareous-shelled Kutorginates (Kutorgina sinensis, Kutorgina sp., and Nisusia liantuoensis). This brachiopod assemblage and the first occurrence of Linnarssonia sapushanensis shell beds permit correlation of the Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of Hubei Province with the Stage 4 Wulongqing Formation in the Wuding area of eastern Yunnan. This correlation is further strengthened by the first appearance datum (FAD) of the rhynchonelliform brachiopod Nisusia in the upper silty mudstone of both the Shipai and Wulongqing formations. The new well-preserved material, derived from siliciclastic rocks, also gives critical new insights into the fine shell structure of L. sapushanensis. Microstructural studies on micromorphic acrotretoids (like Linnarssonia) have previously been restricted to fossils that were acid-etched from limestones. This is the first study to carry out detailed comparative ultrastructural studies on acrotretoid shells preserved in siliciclastic rocks. This work reveals a hollow tube and solid column microstructure in the acrotretoid shells from the Shipai Formation, which is likely to be equivalent of traditional column and central canal observed in shells dissolved from limestones.

Study on Mechanical Properties and Control Technology of Surrounding Rock in the Fracture Zone of a Roadway

We aim at the problem of the large deformation and difficult control of surrounding rock when passing through a fault fracture zone in the centralized rail transportation lane along the south wing of Xinyi Coal Mine; the stress environment and failure mechanism of surrounding rock are analyzed through field investigation, numerical simulation, and field industrial test. The instability of the surrounding rock in the fault fracture zone was considered to be the result of the joint effect of the surrounding rock fracture development, lithology differences, water gushing occurrences, low strength of the original support, high in situ stress, and fault-related tectonic stress. Rock blocks are collected on site at the fracture zone, and the remoulded samples are prepared for mechanical experiments in the laboratory. The basic mechanical parameters of the roadway passing through silty mudstone, sand-mudstone interlayer, and fine sandstone were analyzed. A three-dimensional model is established to analyze the distributions of the stress, deformation, and plastic area in the surrounding rock mass after the tunnel passes through, considering both a single-rock mass and a multilayer-rock mass. Based on the above analysis, the “closed support + shotcrete + grouting + anchor mesh cable coupling support” is proposed. Three stations were arranged on site to observe the mine pressure, and the field industrial test shows that, within the 100 days of observation, the maximum roof-to-floor convergence is 38 mm, while the maximum horizontal convergence is 56 mm. The overall reinforcement effect of the roadway is good, the surface is smooth, and there is no phenomenon of concrete cracking and bolt fracture.