The positive S-isotopic excursion of carbonate-associated sulfate (δ³⁴S_CAS) is generally in phase with the Steptoean positive carbon isotope excursion (SPICE), which may reflect widespread, global, transient increases in the burial of organic carbon and pyrite sulfate in sediments deposited under large-scale anoxic and sulphidic conditions. However, carbon-sulfur isotope cycling of the global SPICE event, which may be controlled by global and regional events, is still poorly understood, especially in south China. Therefore, the δ¹³C_PDB, δ¹⁸O_PDB,δ³⁴S_CAS, total carbon (TC), total organic carbon (TOC) and total sulfate (TS) of Cambrian carbonate of Waergang section of Hunan Province were analyzed to unravel global and regional controls on carbon-sulfur cycling during SPICE event in south China.

The δ³⁴S_CAS values in the onset and rising limb are not obviously higher than that in the preceding SPICE, meanwhile sulfate (δ³⁴S_CAS) isotope values increase slightly with increasing δ¹³C_PDB in rising limb and near peak of SPICE (130–160 m). The sulfate (δ³⁴S_CAS) isotope values gradually decrease from 48.6‰ to 18‰ in the peak part of SPICE and even increase from 18‰ to 38.5% in the descending limb of SPICE. The abnormal asynchronous C-S isotope excursion during SPICE event in the south China was mainly controlled by the global events including sea level change and marine sulfate reduction, and it was also influenced by regional events such as enhanced siliciclastic provenance input (sulfate), weathering of a carbonate platform and sedimentary environment. Sedimentary environment and lithology are not the main reason for global SPICE event but influence the δ¹³C_PDB excursion-amplitude of SPICE. Sea level eustacy and carbonate platform weathering probably made a major contribution to the δ¹³C_PDB excursion during the SPICE, in particularly, near peak of SPICE. Besides, the trilobite extinctions, anoxia, organic-matter burial and siliciclastic provenance input also play an important role in the onset, early and late stage of SPICE event.

During the coalbed methane (CBM) exploitation, the reservoir permeability can be affected by the effective stress that varies with the reservoir fluid pressure, which is a complex, dynamic and significant engineering problem. To analyze the response characteristics of the pore-fracture system by the changing stress, this work simulated reservoir and fluid pressures during the exploitation by adjusting confining pressure and displacement pressure. Stress sensitivity experiments under different effective stresses were conducted to systematically study the stage variation characteristics of porosity and permeability of coal. The results show that the permeability decreases exponentially with the increase in effective stress, consistent with previous studies. However, the porosity shows a V-shaped trend, which is different from the traditional understanding that it would decrease continuously with rising effective stress. These variation characteristics (of porosity and permeability above) therefore result in a phased porosity sensitivity of coal permeability (P_PS). Moreover, the stress sensitivity of the samples was evaluated using the permeability damage rate method (M_PDR) and the stress sensitivity coefficient method (M_CSS), both of which showed that it ranges from the degree of strong to extremely strong. When the effective stress is lower than 5–6 MPa, the stress sensitivity of the coal reservoir drops rapidly with effective stress rising; when it is higher than 5–6 MPa, the change in stress sensitivity tends to flatten out, and the stress sensitivity coefficient (C_SS) goes down slowly with rising effective stress. Finally, suggestions are proposed for the drainage scheme of CBM wells based on the experimental results.

Natural fractures are of crucial importance for oil and gas reservoirs, especially for those with ultralow permeability and porosity. The deep-marine shale gas reservoirs of the Wufeng and Longmaxi Formations are typical targets for the study of natural fracture characteristics. Detailed descriptions of full-diameter shale drill core, together with 3D Computed Tomography scans and Formation MicroScanner Image data acquisition, were carried out to characterize microfracture morphology in order to obtain the key parameters of natural fractures in such system. The fracture type, orientation, and their macroscopic and microscopic distribution features are evaluated. The results show that the natural fracture density appears to remarkably decrease in the Wufeng and Longmaxi Formations with increasing the burial depth. Similar trends have been observed for fracture length and aperture. Moreover, the natural fracture density diminishes as the formation thickness increases. There are three main types of natural fractures, which we interpret as (I) mineral-filled fractures (by pyrite and calcite), i.e., veins, (II) those induced by tectonic stress, and (III) those formed by other processes (including diagenetic shrinkage and fluid overpressure). Natural fracture orientations estimated from the studied natural fractures in the Luzhou block are not consistent with the present-day stress field. The difference in tortuosity between horizontally and vertically oriented fractures reveals their morphological complexity. In addition, natural fracture density, host rock formation thickness, average total organic carbon and effective porosity are found to be important factors for evaluating shale gas reservoirs. The study also reveals that the high density of natural fractures is decisive to evaluate the shale gas potential. The results may have significant implications for evaluating favorable exploration areas of shale gas reservoirs and can be applied to optimize hydraulic fracturing for permeability enhancement.

High- and low-rank coalbed methane (CBM) are both important fields of CBM development in China, but their formation and production mechanisms differ considerably. The adsorption/desorption behavior of high- and low-rank coals under the coupling of coal–water–gas was investigated using two series of samples. Coal samples from Zhangjiamao (ZJM) coal mine, Ordos basin, and Sihe (SH) coal mine, Qinshui basin, were tested by isothermal adsorption–desorption experiment, natural imbibition experiment, nuclear magnetic resonance, mercury injection porosimetry, contact angle test, and permeability test. Isothermal adsorption and desorption experiments under dry, equilibrium water, and saturated water, were performed to explore the differences between the adsorption and desorption characteristics. The results show that the wettability and permeability of the ZJM low-rank coal sample was considerably higher than that of the SH high-rank coal sample. The imbibition process of the ZJM sample exhibited a high imbibition rate and high total-imbibition volume, whereas the SH sample exhibited a slow imbibition rate and low total-imbibition volume. The ZJM sample had a complex pore structure and diverse pore-size distribution with a lower mercury withdrawal efficiency at 59.60%, whereas the SH sample had a relatively uniform pore-size distribution with a higher mercury withdrawal efficiency at 97.62%. The response of adsorption and desorption of the ZJM sample to water was more significant than that of the SH sample. The desorption hysteresis of the ZJM sample was stronger than that of the SH sample and was more prominently affected by water, which was consistent with its strong wettability and complex pore-throat configuration. A comprehensive adsorption and desorption mode was constructed for high- and low-rank coal samples under coal–water–gas coupling condition. The research results are important to enrich the geological theory of high- and low-rank CBM and to guide efficient CBM recovery.

The adsorption, diffusion, and aggregation of methane from coal are often studied based on slit or carbon nanotube models and isothermal adsorption and thermodynamics theories. However, the pore morphology of the slit model involves a single slit, and the carbon nanotube model does not consider the molecular structure of coal. The difference of the adsorption capacity of coal to methane was determined without considering the external environmental conditions by the molecular structure and pore morphology of coal. The study of methane adsorption by coal under single condition cannot reveal its mechanism. In view of this, elemental analysis, FTIR spectrum, XPS electron energy spectrum, ¹³C NMR, and isothermal adsorption tests were conducted on the semi-anthracite of Changping mine and the anthracite of Sihe Mine in Shanxi Province, China. The grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and molecular dynamics simulation method was used to establish the coal molecular structure model. By comparing the results with the experimental test results, the accuracy and practicability of the molecular structure model are confirmed. Based on the adsorption potential energy theory and aggregation model, the adsorption force of methane on aromatic ring structure, pyrrole nitrogen structure, aliphatic structure, and oxygen-containing functional group was calculated. The relationship between pore morphology, methane aggregation morphology, and coal molecular structure was revealed. The results show that the adsorption force of coal molecular structure on methane is as follows: aromatic ring structure (1.96 kcal/mol) > pyridine nitrogen (1.41 kcal/mol) > pyrrorole nitrogen (1.05 kcal/mol) > aliphatic structure (0.29 kcal/mol) > oxygen-containing functional group (0.20 kcal/mol). In the long and narrow regular pores of semi-anthracite and anthracite, methane aggregates in clusters at turns and aperture changes, and the adsorption and aggregation positions are mainly determined by the aromatic ring structure, the positions of pyrrole nitrogen and pyridine nitrogen. The degree of aggregation is controlled by the interaction energy and pore morphology. The results pertaining to coal molecular structure and pore morphology on methane adsorption and aggregation location and degree are conducive to the evaluation of the adsorption mechanism of methane in coal.

Rare earth elements and yttrium (REY) in coal deposits are considered promising alternative sources for these resources owing to their increasing global demand. This paper reports the geochemical characteristics of REY in the Late Permian coals from an underground K1a seam section of the Zhongliangshan coalfield in Chongqing, southwestern China. The mineralogy, degree of enrichment, distribution patterns, modes of occurrence, and sediment origin of REY were investigated. Compared with the average of world coals, the concentration of REY in the K1a coals were normal, dominated by light REY (LREY), with less medium and heavy REY (MREY, HREY). The fractionation degree of the MREY and HREY are higher than that of LREY in most K1a coal samples, deduced from the mixed enrichment type of REY, mainly including M-H-type, and a few L-M type and H-type. In addition, the combination of anomalies of Ce, Eu, Gd, and Al₂O₃/TiO₂ parameters, the terrigenous materials in the K1a coal were derived from the felsic-intermediate rocks at the top of the Emeishan basalt sequence, and the samples were affected by seawater intrusion during early peat accumulation. Although the minerals primarily consist of kaolinite, illite, pyrite, and small amounts of quartz, calcite and anatase, REY are correlated with ash yield, SiO₂, and Al₂O₃, revealing that the REY mainly occur in aluminosilicate minerals, especially kaolinite and illite. Meanwhile, REY positively relate to P₂O₅ and Zr, which may exist in phosphate-containing minerals or zircon. Furthermore, most samples in the K1a coal or ash do not reach the cut-off grade for the beneficial recovery of REY. With the exception of central Guizhou, southwestern Chongqing, and the junction of western Guizhou and northeastern Yunnan, the REY content in coals from southwestern China are high, and its by-products are suitable as potential REY sources.

The sharp increase in the demand for lithium (Li) for high-energy-storage battery materials due to its high specific energy and low negative chemical potential render Li a geopolitically significant resource. It is urgent to develop a low-cost, efficient method to improve lithium extraction. Herein, Li ion (Li⁺) adsorption in coal-bearing strata kaolinite (CSK) was studied. The effects of pre-activation acid leaching (meta-kaolinite/H₂SO₄, MK-HS) and dimethyl sulfoxide intercalation (coal-bearing strata kaolinite/dimethyl sulfoxide, CSK-DMSO) on the Li⁺ adsorption capacity were studied under the same adsorption conditions. The results indicated that the adsorption was completed in 60 min under alkaline conditions (pH = 8.5), a high solution concentration (400 mg/L), and a low dosage (1 g/100 mL); and the comprehensive adsorption capacity is MK-HS > CSK-DMSO > CSK. Furthermore, the DMSO intercalation caused the interlayer spacing of the CSK to increase, which provided more space for Li⁺ to enter and increase the adsorption capacity. After thermal pre-activation and acid leaching, structural failure and lattice collapse resulted in the presence of more micropores in the MK-HS, which resulted in a 10-fold increase in its specific surface area and caused coordination bond changes (Al(VI) to Al(IV)) and leaching of aluminum (Al) from the lattice. It is proposed that these structural changes greatly improve the activity of CSK so that Li⁺ cannot only adsorb onto the surface and between the layers but can also enter the lattice defects, which results in the MK-HS having the best adsorption performance. Combined with the adsorption kinetics analysis, the adsorption methods of CSK and two modified materials include physical adsorption and chemical adsorption. In this study, the adsorption capacity of CSK and its modified products to Li were explored, providing a new option for the reuse of CSK and the extraction of Li.

The acoustic response of gas and/or water saturated coal rock is fundamental for establishing the correspondence between the physical properties of the coal reservoir and the characteristics of the well-logging response, which is the technology essential for the geophysical exploration of coalbed methane (CBM). This acoustic response depends on water (S_w) and gas (S_g) saturation among other factors. In this study, we performed acoustic tests on dry and different gas-water saturated coal samples with different degrees of metamorphism and deformation, collected from several coal mining areas in China. These tests enabled us to analyze the influence of coal type and gas-water saturation on the acoustic response of CBM formations. Our results show that the acoustic velocity of P-wave and S-wave (V_p and V_s, respectively), and the relative anisotropy of and V_s, increased with increasing vitrinite reflectance, density, V_p and S_w. WithS_w increasing from 0 to 100%, the growth rate of the acoustic velocity decreased with increasing vitrinite reflectance. The V_p/V_s ratio of tectonic coal was generally higher than that of primary coal. The growth rate of the relative anisotropy in tectonic coal was markedly higher than that in primary coal.

In this work, CH₄ isothermal adsorption measurements were carried out on 64 coal samples collected from western Guizhou Province of China, and the coalbed methane (CBM) desorption processes were quantitatively analyzed. The results show that the Langmuir volume and the Langmuir pressure are controlled by coalification, and tend to increase as the vitrinite reflectance changes from 0.98% to 4.3%. Based on a division method of CBM desorption stages, the CBM desorption process were divided into four stages (inefficient, slow, fast and sensitive desorption stages) by three key pressure nodes (the initial, turning and sensitive pressures). The fast and sensitive desorption stages with high desorption efficiency are the key for achieving high gas production. A theoretical chart of the critical desorption pressure (P_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{d}}) and its relationship with different pressure nodes was established. The higher-rank coals have the higher initial, turning and sensitive pressures, with larger difference between pressure nodes. Most CBM wells only undergo partial desorption stages due to the differences in P_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{d}} caused by the present-gas content. Under the same gas content conditions, the higher the coal rank, the less desorption stages that CBM needs to go through. During coalbed methane co-production from multiple coal seams within vertically superposed pressure systems, the reservoir pressure, the P_{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{d}}, the initial working liquid level (WLL) height, and coal depth are key factors for evaluating whether coal seams can produce CBM simultaneously. It must be ensured that each production layer enters at least the fast desorption stage prior to that the WLL was lower than the depth of each layer. Only on this basis can all layers achieve the maximum gas production.

Commercial exploration and development of deep buried coalbed methane (CBM) in Daning-Jixian Block, eastern margin of Ordos Basin, have rapidly increased in recent decades. Gas content, saturation and well productivity show significant heterogeneity in this area. To better understand the geological controlling mechanism on gas distribution heterogeneity, the burial history, hydrocarbon generation history and tectonic evolution history were studied by numerical simulation and experimental simulation, which could provide guidance for further development of CBM in this area. The burial history of coal reservoir can be classified into six stages, i.e., shallowly buried stage, deeply burial stage, uplifting stage, short-term tectonic subsidence stage, large-scale uplifting stage, sustaining uplifting and structural inversion stage. The organic matter in coal reservoir experienced twice hydrocarbon generation. Primary and secondary hydrocarbon generation processes were formed by the Early and Middle Triassic plutonic metamorphism and Early Cretaceous regional magmatic thermal metamorphism, respectively. Five critical tectonic events of the Indosinian, Yanshanian and Himalayan orogenies affect different stages of the CBM reservoir accumulation process. The Indosinian orogeny mainly controls the primary CBM generation. The Yanshanian Orogeny dominates the second gas generation and migration processes. The Himalayan orogeny mainly affects the gas dissipation process and current CBM distribution heterogeneity.

Plant environmental DNA extracted from lacustrine sediments (sedimentary DNA, sedDNA) has been increasingly used to investigate past vegetation changes and human impacts at a high taxonomic resolution. However, the representation of vegetation communities surrounding the lake is still unclear. In this study, we compared plant sedDNA metabarcoding and pollen assemblages from 27 lake surface-sediment samples collected from alpine meadow on the central-eastern Tibetan Plateau to investigate the representation of sedDNA data. In general, the identified components of sedDNA are consistent with the counted pollen taxa and local plant communities. Relative to pollen identification, sedDNA data have higher taxonomic resolution, thus providing a potential approach for reconstructing past plant diversity. The sedDNA signal is strongly influenced by local plants while rarely affected by exogenous plants. Because of the overrepresentation of local plants and PCR bias, the abundance of sedDNA sequence types is very variable among sites, and should be treated with caution when investigating past vegetation cover and climate based on sedDNA data. Our finding suggests that sedDNA analysis can be a complementary approach for investigating the presence/absence of past plants and history of human land-use with higher taxonomic resolution.

Injection of gas (CO₂) into coal seams is an effective method to benefit from both CO₂ geological storage and coalbed methane recovery. Based on the dual pore structure of coal mass, and the Weibull distribution of fracture permeability, a thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) coupling mathematical model is proposed involving the non-isothermal adsorption of binary gases, dynamic gas diffusion between matrix and fractures, multiphase seepage, coal deformation, heat conduction and heat convection. This mathematical model is applied to study the process of CO₂-enhanced coalbed methane recovery (CO₂-ECBM). Results show that the CH₄ content of CO₂-ECBM in coal seam decreases significantly when compared with that of regular drainage, and decreases rapidly in the early stage but slowly in the later stage. Coal seam permeability evolution is triggered by changes in gas adsorption/desorption, temperature and effective stress. For regular drainage, the early permeability shows a decreasing trend dominated by the increase of effective stress, while the later permeability shows an increasing trend dominated by the CH₄ desorption caused shrinkage of coal matrix. For CO₂-ECBM, the permeability in coal seam generally shows a downward trend due to both matrix swelling induced by gas adsorption and thermal expansion, particularly near injection well. There appears an increased and delayed peak production rate of CH₄. The CH₄ production rate of CO₂-ECBM is always higher than that of regular drainage. The CH₄ cumulative production and CO₂ cumulative storage linearly increase with time, and the CH₄ cumulative production of CO₂-ECBM increased by 39.2% in the duration of 5000 d compared with regular drainage. Reasonable CO₂ injection starting time can overcome the issue of early CO₂ breakthrough and ineffective increase of CH₄ production. In the studied case, the optimal injection starting time is 2500 d. Compared with the simultaneous CH₄ extraction and CO₂ injection, the CH₄ cumulative production of optimal time has increased by 30.1%. The research provides a reference for determining the reasonable CO₂ injection time under similar conditions.

Stress sensitivity has significant negative effects on the permeability and production of coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs. To effectively minimize these negative effects, the degree of stress sensitivity during the CBM production process should be carefully studied. In this work, the curvature of the stress-sensitivity curve was adopted to explore the degree of stress sensitivity, dividing the stress-sensitivity curve and the drainage process into five stress stages: sharp decrease, rapid decrease, low-speed decrease, slower decrease and harmless with four critical stress points—transition, sensitivity, relief and harmless. The actual stages were determined by the initial permeability, stress-sensitivity coefficient and difference between the reservoir pressure and desorption pressure. The four critical stress points did not completely exist in the stress-sensitivity curve. With an increase in the initial permeability of coal, the number of existing critical stresses increases, leading to different gas-water drainage strategies for CBM wells. For reservoirs with a certain stress-sensitivity coefficient, the permeability at the sensitive stress point was successively greater than that at the transition, relief and the harmless stresses. When the stress-sensitivity coefficient is different, the stage is different at the beginning of drainage, and with an increase in the stress-sensitivity coefficient, the decrease rate of the permeability increases. Therefore, the stress-sensitivity coefficient determines the ability to maintain stable CBM production. For well-fractured CBM reservoirs, with a high stress-sensitivity coefficient, permeability damage mainly occurs when the reservoir pressure is less than the relief stress; therefore, the depressurization rate should be slow. For CBM reservoirs with fewer natural fractures, the reverse applies, and the depressurization rate can be much faster. The higher the difference between the reservoir and desorption pressures, the higher the effective stress and permeability damage after desorption, resulting in a much longer drainage time and many difficulties for the desorption of coalbed methane. The findings of this study can help better understand and minimize the negative effects of stress sensitivity during the CBM production process.

The discovery of Loulan ancient city (LA) in the early 20th century has important significance for understanding the history of Western regions and the Silk Road civilization. The current academic community still has disputes on whether LA was the capital of Loulan Kingdom, the time of its rise, peak and decline, and the process, rate and driving mechanism of human activity change. This study uses the radio carbon dates (¹⁴C) database of LA to reconstruct the history of the rise and fall of human activity, and finds that LA experienced more than ~500 years from its rise to its peak and then to its decline: 1) the city rose rapidly, and the population increased rapidly from ~A.D. 0 to 230; 2) the city was prosperous and flourishing, and the intensity of human activity reached its peak from ~A.D. 160 to 340, especially in ~A.D. 230, when the population reached its peak; 3) the city accelerated its decline, and the intensity of human activity decreased significantly, and the population shrank rapidly from ~A.D. 230 to 500; 4) LA was completely abandoned after ~A.D. 560. The results of the ¹⁴C dating database do not support that LA was the early capital of the Loulan Kingdom. By comparing the human activity record of LA with the existing high-resolution palaeoclimate records in the surrounding mountainous areas of the Tarim Basin and South Asia, it is found that the superposition of centennial-scale westerly circulation strength events and the ~500-year cycle of the Indian monsoon jointly controlled the precipitation and meltwater (snow) supply of the mountains in the Tarim Basin, affecting the changes of surface runoff and oasis area in the basin, which is one of the important factors causing the rise and fall of LA.

Investigating the dynamics of vegetation is an essential basis to know how to protect ecological environments and to help predict any changes in trend. Because of its fragile alpine ecosystem, the Tibetan Plateau is a particularly suitable area for studying vegetation changes and their driving factors. In this study, we present a high-resolution pollen record covering the last two centuries extracted from Gongzhu Co on the western Tibetan Plateau. Alpine steppe is the predominant vegetation type in the surrounding area throughout the past 250 years with stable vegetation composition and abundance, as revealed by pollen spectra dominated by Artemisia, Ranunculaceae, Cyperaceae, and Poaceae. Detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA) of the pollen data reveals low turnover in compositional species (0.41 SD), suggesting that the vegetation in the Gongzhu catchment had no significant temporal change, despite climate change and population increases in recent decades. We additionally ran DCCA on ten other pollen records from the Tibetan Plateau with high temporal resolution (1–20 years) covering recent centuries, and the results also show that compositional species turnover (0.15–0.81 SD) is relatively low, suggesting that the vegetation stability may have prevailed across the Tibetan Plateau during recent centuries. More high-resolution pollen records and high taxonomic-resolution palaeo-vegetation records (such as sedaDNA), however, are needed to confirm the vegetation stability on the Tibetan Plateau.

The Yarlung Tsangpo, the longest river in the southern Tibetan Plateau (TP), has attracted much research attention aimed at understanding the factors controlling its modern hydrology and possible future discharge in the context of ongoing climate change. However, partly due to the complex regional climatic background, no consistent conclusions have been reached, especially for its upper reaches. Paleohydrological reconstructions of the source region of the Yarlung Tsangpo can potentially improve our understanding of the history of humidity and its response to climatic variability. In this study, we used a 97 cm gravity core from Gongzhu Co to reconstruct the hydrology change during the late Holocene. The core was dated using AMS ¹⁴C and Pb/Cs methods, and we used measurements of element contents (determined by high-resolution XRF scanning), grain size, IC/TOC, and magnetic susceptibility to reconstruct hydroclimatic changes in the source of the Yarlung Tsangpo watershed since ~4000 yr ago. Combined with a modern meteorological data set, we found that PC1 of the XRF data, the Ca/(Fe + Ti) ratio, and EM1 of the grain size data were indicative of changes in humidity. Our records demonstrate a wet interval during ~4–1.7 ka BP (ka = 1000 yr, BP represents years before 1950 AD), followed by a dry period during since ~1 ka BP. Comparison with independent regional paleoclimatic records revealed shifts in the dominant factors controlling humidity. The wet interval during ~4–1.7 ka BP was coeval with a strengthened Westerlies, implying a dominant moisture supply from northern high latitudes. However, the extremely low values of Ca/(Fe + Ti) ratio during ~4–2.5 ka BP indicate potential glacial freshwater source, which is corroborated by the concurrent high magnetic susceptibility values and increased grain size. The rapid drying trend during ~1.7–1 ka BP suggests a switch in moisture supply from the Westerlies to the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). We attribute the drought conditions after ~1 ka BP to a weakened ISM, although a Westerlies influence and the potential effect of high temperatures on evaporation cannot be excluded. We suggest that future hydroclimatic research in this region should attempt to distinguish the individual moisture contributions of the ISM and the Westerlies during the last millennium.

Long-chain n-alkanes are one of the most common organic compounds in terrestrial plants and they are well-preserved in various geological archives. n-alkanes are relatively resistant to degradation and thus they can provide high-fidelity records of past vegetation and climate changes. Nevertheless, previous studies have shown that the interpretation of n-alkane proxies, such as the average chain length (ACL), is often ambiguous since this proxy depends on more than one variable. Both vegetation and climate could exert controls on the n-alkane ACL, and hence its interpretation requires careful consideration, especially in regions like the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) where topography, biome type and moisture source are highly variable. To further evaluate the influences of vegetation and climate on the ACL in high-elevation lakes, we examined the n-alkane distributions of the surface sediments of 55 lakes across the QTP. Our results show that the ACL across a climatic gradient is significantly affected by precipitation, rather than by temperature. The positive correlation between ACL and precipitation may be because of the effect of microbial degradation during deposition. Finally, we suggest that more caution is needed in the interpretation of ACL data in different regions.

As an important proxy for investigating past fire activities, charcoal is often used to explore the characteristics of fire distribution and its relationships with vegetation, climate, and human activities. Research into the spatial distribution and environmental determinants for charcoal, however, is still limited. In this study, we identified and counted charcoal from topsoil samples covering the Tibetan Plateau using the pollen methodology, and investigated its relationships with vegetation net primary production (NPP), elevation, climate (precipitation, mean temperature of the coldest month and warmest month) and human population by boosted regression trees (BRT). Results reveal that the concentration of microscopic charcoal, macroscopic charcoal, and total charcoal all increase from south-west to north-east, which is consistent with the trend that the population density on the Tibetan Plateau is high in the east and low in the west, suggesting that an increase in human activity is likely to promote the occurrence of fire. The BRT modeling reveals that NPP, elevation, and mean temperature of the coldest month are important factors for total charcoal concentration on the Tibetan Plateau, and the frequency and intensity of fires further increase with increasing vegetation biomass, decreasing elevation, and decreasing mean temperature of the coldest month. The spatial variation characteristics of charcoal from topsoil on the Tibetan Plateau not only reflect well the spatial fire situation in the region, but also have a good indicative significance for vegetation, climate, and human activities.

The Daning-Jixian block, the eastern edge of the Ordos Basin, is one of the most potential areas for CO₂ geological storage, enhanced coalbed methane recovery (ECBM) exploration and production in China in recent decades. The ionic composition and total dissolved solids (TDS) of the produced water, coal organic matter maturity, molecular composition and carbon isotope characteristics of the produced gas were utilized to analyze the hydrogeological condition, CBM generation and migration characteristics in this area. The CBM enrichment patterns and the geological impacts on gas well production characteristics were revealed. The optimal area for CBM development and CO₂ geological storage in the study area were also proposed. Dominated by the Xueguan reverse fault zone, the hydraulic unit in this area can be divided into two parts (i.e., the recharge-runoff zone in the east and the weak runoff-stagnation zone in the west). The thermogenic gas is dominating CBM genesis in this area. Secondary biogenic gas replenishment is only distributed in the eastern margin area, where the δ¹³C₁ value is less than the thermal simulation results as an influence of hydrodynamic fractionation. Finally, two models of CBM formation and accumulation were proposed, 1) thermogenic CBM migrated by hydrodynamic and resorbed for preservation at impermeable fault boundaries; 2) thermogenic CBM trapped by fault and accumulated by hydrodynamic in slope zone. The gas production performance, generally increased from east to west, is mainly dominated by hydrogeological conditions. Generally, the west side of the fault zone is the enrichment and high-yield area for ECBM development and CO₂ geological storage in the study area.

The study of microbial communities in the produced water of coalbed methane (CBM) wells is an important aspect of microbial-enhanced methane production. Water produced from 15 CBM wells in four synclines in eastern Yunnan and western Guizhou was collected. Through the use of 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) amplicon sequencing and realtime fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the characteristics of bacterial and archaeal communities before and after enrichment culture were studied. The methanogenic pathways of secondary biogas were discussed, and potential microbial-enhanced methane production was preliminarily evaluated. The results showed that the bacterial DNA content in uncultured produced water was low, so it is difficult to detect. After enrichment, the dominant bacteria phyla were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes. A total of seven phyla were detected in the uncultured produced water, and the dominant archaeal phylum was Euyarchaeota. Methanogens were the main component of archaea. The dominant archaeal genera were Methanobacterium, Methanoculleus and Methanobrevibacter. The community structure of the archaea changed noticeably after four days of enrichment culture. The relative abundance of Euryarchaeota increased to 99% in most samples after enrichment culture. It was found that there was a transition from Methanoregula to Methanobacterium within genera. The relative abundance of Methanobacterium increased, which can produce hydrogenotrophic methane. Combined with the isotopic composition of the produced water and gas, it is considered that the CBM in the Tucheng and Enhong synlines consists of a mixture of thermogenic gas and biogas. The proportion of secondary biogas in the Tucheng and Enhong synlines are estimated to range from 10.89% to 49.62%. There are mainly hydrogentrophic methanogens in the study area, and CO₂ reduction is the main way of microbial gas production. After enrichment culture of produced water in the study area, the hydrogenotrophic methanogens were enriched. These two areas have strong potential for microbial-enhanced methane production.

Due to the limited permeability and high methane content of the majority of China’s coal seams, significant coal mining gas disasters frequently occur. There is an urgent need to artificially improve the permeability of coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs, enhance the recovery efficiency of CBM and prevent mine gas accidents. As a novel coal rock fracture technology, the CO₂ phase transition jet (CPTJ) has been widely used due to its advantages of safety and high fragmentation efficiency. In this study, to ascertain the effects of the pressure of CPTJ fracturing, the influence of its jet pressure on cracked coal rock was revealed, and its effect on CBM extraction was clarified. In this research, the law of CPTJ pressure decay with time was investigated using experimental and theoretical methods. Based on the results, the displacement and discrete fracture network law of CPTJ fracturing coal rock under different jet pressure conditions were studied using particle flow code numerical simulation. Finally, field experiments were conducted at the Shamushu coal mine to assess the efficiency of CPTJ in enhancing CBM drainage. The results showed that the pressure of the CPTJ decreased exponentially with time and significantly influenced the number and expansion size of cracks that broke coal rock but not their direction of development. CPTJ technology can effectively increase the number of connected microscopic pores and fractures in CBM reservoirs, strongly increase the CBM drainage flow rate by between 5.2 and 9.8 times, and significantly reduce the CBM drainage decay coefficient by between 73.58% and 88.24%.

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) have garnered extensive attention as a target of carbon neutrality in China. The development trend of international CCUS projects indicates that the cluster construction of CCUS projects is the main direction of future development. The cost reduction potential of CCUS cluster projects has become a significant issue for CCUS stakeholders. To assess the cost reduction potential of CCUS cluster projects, we selected three coal-fired power plants in the coastal area of Guangdong as research targets. We initially assessed the costs of building individual CCUS projects for each plant and subsequently designed a CCUS cluster project for these plants. By comparing individual costs and CCUS cluster project costs, we assessed the cost reduction potential of CCUS cluster projects. The results show that the unit emission reduction cost for each plant with a capacity of 300 million tonnes per year is 392.34, 336.09, and 334.92 CNY/tCO₂. By building CCUS cluster project, it could save 56.43 CNY/tCO₂ over the average cost of individual projects (354.45 CNY/tCO₂) when the total capture capacity is 9 million tonnes per year (by 15.92%). Furthermore, we conducted a simulation for the scenario of a smaller designed capture capacity for each plant. We found that as the capture scale increases, the cost reduction potential is higher in the future.

Reconstructing Holocene temperature evolution is important for understanding present temperature variations and for predicting future climate change, in the context of global warming. The evolution of Holocene global temperature remains disputed, due to differences between proxy reconstructions and model simulations, a discrepancy known as the ῾Holocene temperature conundrum᾽. More reliable and quantitative terrestrial temperature records are needed to resolve the spatial heterogeneity of existing records. In this study, based on the analysis of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) from a loess-paleosol sequence from the Ganjia Basin in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP), we quantitatively reconstructed the mean annual air temperature (MAAT) over the past 12 ka. The MAAT reconstruction shows that the temperature remained low during the early Holocene (12−8 ka), followed by a rapid warming at around 8 ka. From 8 to 4 ka, the MAAT record reached its highest level, followed by a cooling trend from the late Holocene (4−0 ka). The variability of the reconstructed MAAT is consistent with trends of annual temperature records from the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during the Holocene. We attribute the relatively low temperatures during the early Holocene to the existence of ice sheets at high-latitude regions in the Northern Hemisphere and the weaker annual mean insolation at 35°N. During the mid to late Holocene, the long-term cooling trend in the annual temperature record was primarily driven by declining summer insolation. This study provides key geological evidence for clarifying Holocene temperature change in the TP.

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a key region for environmental and climatic research due to its significant linkages with large-scale atmospheric circulation. Understanding the long-term moisture evolution pattern and its forcing mechanisms on the TP during the Holocene may provide insights into the interaction between low-latitude climate systems and midlatitude westerlies. Here, we synthesized 27 paleoclimate proxy records covering the past 9500 years. The results of the rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis of the moisture variation revealed spatial-temporal heterogeneity, which was classified into 5 subregions. Proxy records were then compared with the results from the Kiel Climate Model and other paleorecords. The results showed that moisture evolution on the western-southern-central TP was controlled by the Indian summer monsoon (ISM). On the south-eastern TP, moisture change was affected by the interplay between the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and the westerlies, as well as the ISM. With diverse patterns of circulation system precipitation, moisture changes recorded in the paleorecords showed spatial-temporal discrepancies, especially during the early to middle Holocene. Moreover, given the anti-phase pattern of summer precipitation in the EASM area under El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions and the unstable relationship between the ISM and ENSO, it is reasonable to conclude that relatively strong ENSO variability during the late Holocene has contributed to these discrepancies as Asian summer monsoon precipitation has declined.

Zige Tangco is a meromictic saline lake located on the central Tibetan Plateau. Two parallel cores (ZGTC A-1 and ZGTC A-2) were collected from the lake at a water depth of 25 m during summer 2006. The chronology of core A-1 was reconstructed based on the Constant Initial Concentration (CIC) model of ²¹⁰Pb and three accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ages from the chitin fragments. The hard water effect calibration of the sediment ¹⁴C age showed that the reservoir effect ranged from 1655 yr at 1950 AD to 1540 yr at 1610 AD. The hydrological variation in Zige Tangco during the past 800 yr was reconstructed using multi-proxies, including organic and carbonate content, stable isotopes of fine-grained carbonate minerals (< 38.5 μm) and grain-size distribution of the lake sediments. Our results show that there were strong fluctuations in the lake level between 1200 and 1820 AD, and at least three dry periods were recorded between 1235 and 1315 AD, 1410 and 1580 AD, and 1660 and 1720 AD characterized by high carbonate content, abrupt positive shifts of stable isotopes, and high sand content. The low-lake-level periods during the Little Ice Age (LIA) in Zige Tangco correspond to the lower δ¹⁸O values in the Guliya ice core and the lower precipitation reconstructed from tree rings in Delingha. This demonstrated that the summer monsoon on the central Tibetan Plateau weakened during the dry and cold periods, whereas the winter monsoon strengthened. Relatively wetter periods or higher lake levels in Zige Tangco occurred at 1580–1650 AD and 1820–1900 AD. Negative shifts in stable isotopes were related to increased lake levels between 1800 and 1820 AD. Our results also showed that the summer monsoon precipitation on the central Tibetan Plateau was mainly controlled by solar activity during the past 800 yr.

The pore structure of caprock plays an important role in underground gas storage security, as it significantly influences the sealing capacity of caprock. However, the pore structure evolution of caprock with the cyclic stress perturbations triggered by the cyclic gas injection or extraction remains unclear. In this study, the pore structure changes of mudstone caprock under cyclic loading and unloading were obtained by the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tests system, then the influence of the changes on the breakthrough pressure of caprock was discussed. The results indicated that the pore structure changes are depending on the stress loading-unloading path and stress level. In the first cyclic, at the loading stage, with the increase of confining stress, the NMR T₂ spectra curve moved to the left, the NMR signal amplitude of the first peak increased, while the amplitude of the second peak decreased gradually. This indicated that the larger pores of mudstone are compressed and transformed into smaller pores, then the number of macropores decreased and the number of micro- and meso-pores increased. For a certain loading-unloading cycle, the porosity curve of mudstone in the loading process is not coincide with that in the unloading process, the porosity curve in the loading process was located below that in the unloading process, which indicated that the pore structure change is stress path dependent. With the increase of cycle numbers, the total porosity shown an increasing trend, indicating that the damage of mudstone occurred under the cyclic stress load-unload effects. With the increase of porosity, the breakthrough pressure of mudstone decreased with the increase of the cyclic numbers, which may increase the gas leakage risk. The results can provide significant implication for the underground gas storage security evaluation.

The mechanical characteristics of coal reservoirs are important parameters in the hydraulic fracturing of coal. In this study, coal samples of different ranks were collected from 12 coal mines located in Xinjiang and Shanxi, China. The coal ranks were identified with by the increased Maximum vitrine reflectance (R_o,max) value. The triaxial compression experiments were performed to determine the confining pressure effect on the mechanical properties of coal samples of different ranks. The numerical approaches, including the power function, arctangent, and exponential function models, were used to find the correlation between coal elastic modulus and the confining pressure. The fitting equations of compressive strength and elastic modulus of coal ranks were constructed under different confining pressures. The results showed that the coal compressive strength of different ranks has a positive linear correlation with the confining pressure. The coal elastic modulus and confining pressure showed an exponential function. Poisson’s ratio of coal and confining pressure show negative logarithmic function. The stress sensitivity of the coal elastic modulus decreases with the increase of confining pressure. The coalification jump identifies that the compressive strength, elastic modulus, and stress sensitivity coefficient of coal have a polynomial relationship with the increase of coal ranks. The inflection points in coalification at R_o,max = 0.70%, 1.30%, and 2.40%, are the first, second, and third coalification jumps. These findings provide significant support to coal fracturing during CBM production.

Abundant unminable coal in deep strata and abandoned mines are also precious sources of clean gas energy, under which biotransformation is a potential path. In recent years, substantial progress has been made in laboratory research on coal degradation to produce methane by microbial metabolism. This paper systematically reviews the research progress of microbial enhancement and microbial stimulation of coal, physicochemical pretreatments of coal, and environmental factors affecting coal biotransformation. The research idea of coal biotransformation should aim at field production increase and gradually clarify the microbial mechanism of coal degradation and the regional distribution and functional composition of microbial communities on the block scale. The research on coal biotransformation helps improve the development level of coalbed methane and the sustainable development of unconventional natural gas resources.