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Granite is one rock type used to host high-level radioactive waste repositories, and the structure of microcracks in the rock can influence its hydraulic characteristics. Thus, a quantitative analysis of granite microcracks is relevant for understanding the hydrogeological characteristics of the rocks surrounding geological repositories. The analysis can also contribute scientific data to a seepage model for low permeability rocks and materials with microscopic pores. In this study, seven granite core samples were drilled from different depths up to 600 m in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, China. Using a grid survey method and image processing technology, micrographs were converted into binary images of microcracks. The geometric parameters of the microcracks, including their quantity, width, cranny ratio, crack intersections and dimensional parameters of the fracture network, were analyzed in order to fully describe their spatial distribution. In addition, the morphological characteristics and elemental compositions of the microcracks were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDS), and the natural moisture content was also determined through heated. Finally, two-dimensional microcrack network seepage models of the granite samples were simulated using the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), which revealed the influence of the microcrack structure on their connectivity. The results show that the growth and development of microcracks in the granite samples generally decreases as sampling depth increases in this study area. Connectivity is positively correlated with a number of the geometric parameters: the quantity of microcracks, the cranny ratio, the number of crack intersections and dimensional parameters of the fracture network, which is revealed in the two-dimensional microcrack network seepage models for these granite samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the geochemistry of major and trace elements of abyssal peridotites from the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR) (53° E amagmatic segment), to determine the influence of mafic melts on mantle peridotites during melt extraction. The results show a great geochemical variability in the ~90 km-long ridge segment, with a degree of mantle melting ranging from 4% to 24%. An ancient melting event may explain the presence of highly depleted peridotites at the ultraslow-spreading ridge. The 53° E segment peridotites show enrichment of light rare earth elements (LREEs) (average LaN/SmN = 1.87) and significant positive anomaly of U and Pb normalized to primitive mantle (PM). The positive correlations between LREEs (La, Ce, Pr, Nd) and high field strength elements (HFSEs; e.g. Nb and Zr) suggest that the enrichment of LREEs is caused by melt refertilization, which is also supported by prevalent magmatic microstructures in the peridotites. The melt refertilization model shows that the addition of 0.02–2.7% basaltic melts to peridotites can be responsible for the LREE enrichment. We suggest that the positive anomaly of U is probably attributed to fluid alteration whereas the enrichment of Pb is probably attributed to both melt refertilization and fluid alteration. Melt refertilization in the 53° E segment peridotites may be a result of melt–rock reaction and crystallization of melts trapped in peridotites. These processes may be enhanced by increased melt permeability in the mantle owing to the refractory peridotites produced by ancient melting and the decreasing efficiency of melt extraction in the cold and thick lithosphere at the 53° E ridge segment. The presence of melt refertilization implies that melt extraction is incomplete in the ridge mantle, which may be one of the reasons for the extremely thin and irregular variation of the crustal thickness at ultraslow-spreading ridges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]