Regional magma plumbing and emplacement mechanisms of the Faroe‐Shetland Sill Complex: implications for magma transport and petroleum systems within sedimentary basins

The movement of magma through the shallow crust and the impact of subsurface sill complexes on the hydrocarbon systems of prospective sedimentary basins has long been an area of interest and debate. Based on 3D seismic reflection and well data, we present a regional analysis of the emplacement and magmatic plumbing system of the Palaeogene Faroe‐Shetland Sill Complex (FSSC), which is intruded into the Mesozoic and Cenozoic sequences of the Faroe‐Shetland Basin (FSB). Identification of magma flow directions through detailed seismic interpretation of approximately 100 sills indicates that the main magma input zones into the FSB were controlled primarily by the NE–SW basin structure that compartmentalise the FSB into its constituent sub‐basins. An analysis of well data shows that potentially up to 88% of sills in the FSSC are <40 m in thickness, and thus below the vertical resolution limit of seismic data at depths at which most sills occur. This resolution limitation suggests that caution needs to be exercised when interpreting magmatic systems from seismic data alone, as a large amount of intrusive material could potentially be missed. The interaction of the FSSC with the petroleum systems of the FSB is not well understood. Given the close association between the FSSC and potential petroleum migration routes into some of the oil/gas fields (e.g. Tormore), the role the intrusions may have played in compartmentalisation of basin fill needs to be taken fully into account to further unlock the future petroleum potential of the FSB.     

On the Occurrence of Neuropteris gigantea Sternb. in Kiangsi

正 In studying the Carboniferous stratigraphy, one is always struck by the fact that those Namurian and Westphalian plants, abundant in other Arcto-     

An investigation of the multi-scale temporal variability of beach profiles at Duck using wavelet packet transforms

In an earlier paper a particular discrete wavelet transform (DWT) was used to study the complex variation of beach profile changes. However, use of the DWT requires that the sequence of spatial and temporal resolution is fixed as a dyadic sequence, which means that the variability over longer intervals is not characterised well. Here we introduce the discrete wavelet packet transform (DWPT) that uses an adaptive scaling to partition the data variance, according to an entropy cost function. The advantages of this approach are demonstrated by its application to the study of temporal variability of a 22 year record of beach profile data from the Field Research Facility (FRF) at Duck, North Carolina, USA. Time series of beach elevations at three locations across a particular profile are investigated in detail. We conclude that the DWPT provides a superior analysis of non-stationary time series to that of the DWT, with improved resolution of the scale intervals of the variability. The beach elevation around the shoreline is shown to respond at both sub-annual and interannual scales, but variability at an annual scale is weak. Moving seaward into deeper water, the variance is partitioned into fewer and longer scales. It is confirmed that elevation changes around the inner bar at Duck exhibit a strong interannual variation consistent with Plant et al. (Plant, N.G., Holman, R.A. and Freilich, M.H., 1999. A simple model for interannual sandbar behaviour. Journal of Geophysical Research 104(C7), 15755–15776). Around 23% of the variance around the inner bar is explained at the temporal scale of 64–128 months, which is consistent with the bar behaviour of 6 years found by Ruessink et al. (Ruessink, B. G., Wijnberg, K. M., Holman, R. A., Kuriyama, Y. and Van Enckevort, I. M. J., 2003. Intersite comparison of interannual nearshore bar behaviour. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108 (C8): 1–12). A significant new finding is, however, that about 26% of the variance is attributable to temporal scales of 16–21.3 months. Reconstruction of the wavelet packet components for individual temporal scales is shown to provide a means for identifying the impact and scale of non-stationary events, such as storms, on the beach response. This provides further information that can be used to interpret the morphological changes in terms of the forcing processes and also serves to inform morphodynamic modelling.     

Nutrient contributions to the Santa Barbara Channel, California, from the ephemeral Santa Clara River

The Santa Clara River delivers nutrient rich runoff to the eastern Santa Barbara Channel during brief (1–3 day) episodic events. Using both river and oceanographic measurements, we evaluate river loading and dispersal of dissolved macronutrients (silicate, inorganic N and P) and comment on the biological implications of these nutrient contributions. Both river and ocean observations suggest that river nutrient concentrations are inversely related to river flow rates. Land use is suggested to influence these concentrations, since runoff from a subwatershed with substantial agriculture and urban areas had much higher nitrate than runoff from a wooded subwatershed. During runoff events, river nutrients were observed to conservatively mix into the buoyant, surface plume immediately seaward of the Santa Clara River mouth. Dispersal of these river nutrients extended 10s of km into the channel. Growth of phytoplankton and nutrient uptake was low during our observations (1–3 days following runoff), presumably due to the very low light levels resulting from high turbidity. However, nutrient quality of runoff (Si:N:P = 16:5:1) was found to be significantly different than upwelling inputs (13:10:1), which may influence different algal responses once sediments settle. Evaluation of total river nitrate loads suggests that most of the annual river nutrient fluxes to the ocean occur during the brief winter flooding events. Wet winters (such as El Niño) contribute nutrients at rates approximately an order-of-magnitude greater than “average” winters. Although total river nitrate delivery is considerably less than that supplied by upwelling, the timing and location of these types of events are very different, with river discharge (upwelling) occurring predominantly in the winter (summer) and in the eastern (western) channel.     

香港与珠三角地区海陆联合地震探测的数据处理

介绍了香港与珠三角地区海陆联测地震数据处理的一般流程及方法,讨论了导航数据记录时间存在误差的问题及其解决方法,对数据处理程序进行了改进,使之更加通用化。提出了数据处理中需要改进之处,对较远的地震台站采用滤波、均衡、剪切等处理手段,突出弱震相,压制强噪音。广东和香港地区的大部分固定台站均可清晰识别出有效信号,这是首次利用固定台站记录到远距离海上气枪信号,最远接收距离达到240多公里,获得了较好的观测结果。     

Results from microseismic monitoring,conventional instrumentation,and tomography surveys in the creation and thinning of a burst-prone sill pillar

Located in northern Québec, the Lac Shortt Mine was a small gold mine consisting of a thin subvertical orebody which was mined in three main phases. High stress and rockbursting conditions were experienced when ore was extracted in the upper zone between the surface and a depth of 500 metres during the first two phases of mining. Severe rockbursts were experienced in late 1989 near the shaft and in the footwall development following a deepening of the mine shaft to a depth of 830 m and partial development of footwall drift access for the third phase of mining (the mining of the lower zone starting at a depth of 830 m moving upward toward a depth of 500 m). A 16-channel Electrolab MP250 microseismic system, with a Queen's University Full-Waveform piggy-back system, was installed underground at the site due to these problems.It was expected that the thinning sill would be subjected to an ever-increasing load as the thickness of the 500 m sill pillar decreased in the face of the mining excavation from below. A monitoring program consisting of the microseismic monitoring system, a range of conventional geomechanics monitoring tools as well as the undertaking of periodic seismic tomography surveys to assess the ongoing state of stress and rock mass condition within the sill was therefore warranted.The anomalously high-magnitude stress field and the brittle rockmass created a situation in which rockmass failure was common and violent. In the creation and thinning of the sill pillar, the location of banded microseismic activity was crucial in tracing rockmass failure and the associated ground control problems. Reliable source-location determination enabled the identification of areas of stress increase. The movement of the rockmass failure front could be followed, and was responsible for stope dilution, footwall and orebody development deterioration, and caving.Source-mechanism analyses gave accurate double-couple solutions for approximately forty percent of these events having at least ten recognizable polarities. Results suggested movement along vertical north-south striking or vertical east-west striking features. Underground observation of damaged access points showed that vertical north-south striking joints were experiencing failure.The microseismic activity, which was consistently concentrated close to the southwest and northeast corners of current production stopes, could be explained by a stress field oriented obliquely to the strike of the orebody, as measured prior to shrinkage of the sill pillar byin situ stress measurements and observed borehole overbreaks. The orientations of theP andT axes for the microseismic activity further confirmed that the stress field oriented obliquely to strike.While an increase in compressional-wave velocity of 2.3 percent, corresponding to a measured stress increase of approximately 10 MPa could be measured by repeated tomographic surveys, it was relatively small and only a factor of two or so above the velocity measured uncertainty. The relative insensitivity of thein situ rock mass modulus to the applied stress is believed to be largely due to the rockmass discontinuities being relatively closed prior to stress increase, as substantiated by the small deformations seen by the extensometer and borehole camera. This situation existed because of the very high pre-mining stress level.The experimental demonstration that the rock could not absorb substantially increased load through the mechanism of discontinuity closure or tightening (which would be reflected in the modulus) may be evidence in itself of potentially burst-prone ground, such as encountered at Lac Shortt.     

AN OPERATIONAL STATISTICAL SCHEME FOR TROPICAL CYCLONE INDUCED RAINFALL FORECAST

A non-parametric method is used in this study to analyze and predict short-term rainfall due to tropical cyclones(TCs) in a coastal meteorological station. All 427 TCs during 1953-2011 which made landfall along the Southeast China coast with a distance less than 700 km to a certain meteorological station- Shenzhen are analyzed and grouped according to their landfalling direction, distance and intensity. The corresponding daily rainfall records at Shenzhen Meteorological Station(SMS) during TCs landfalling period(a couple of days before and after TC landfall) are collected. The maximum daily rainfall(R-24) and maximum 3-day accumulative rainfall(R-72) records at SMS for each TC category are analyzed by a non-parametric statistical method, percentile estimation. The results are plotted by statistical boxplots, expressing in probability of precipitation. The performance of the statistical boxplots is evaluated to forecast the short-term rainfall at SMS during the TC seasons in 2012 and 2013. Results show that the boxplot scheme can be used as a valuable reference to predict the short-term rainfall at SMS due to TCs landfalling along the Southeast China coast.     

Defining and detecting undesirable disturbance in the context of marine eutrophication

An understanding of undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms is needed to diagnose marine eutrophication as defined by EU Directives and OSPAR. This review summarizes the findings of the UK Defra-funded Undesirable Disturbance Study Team, which concluded that 'an undesirable disturbance is a perturbation of a marine ecosystem that appreciably degrades the health or threatens the sustainable human use of that ecosystem'. A methodology is proposed for detecting disturbance of temperate salt-water communities dominated by phytoplanktonic or phytobenthic primary producers. It relies on monitoring indicators of ecosystem structure and vigour, which are components of health. Undesirable disturbance can be diagnosed by accumulating evidence of ecohydrodynamic type-specific changes in: (i) bulk indicators; (ii) frequency statistics; (iii) flux measurements; (iv) structural indicators; and (v) indicator species. These are exemplified by (i) chlorophyll, transparency, dissolved oxygen, and opportunistic seaweed cover; (ii) HABs frequency; (iii) primary production; (iv) benthic and planktonic 'trophic indices'; (v) seagrasses and Nephrops norvegicus. Ecological Quality Objectives are proposed for some of these. Linking the diagnosis to eutrophication requires correlation of changes with nutrient enrichment. The methodology, which requires the development of a plankton community index and emphasizes the importance of primary production as an indicator of vigour, can be harmonized with the EU Water Framework Directive and OSPAR's Strategy to Combat Eutrophication.     

Neo-Atlantis: The Netherlands under a 5-m sea level rise

What could happen to the Netherlands if, in 2030, the sea level starts to rise and eventually, after 100 years, a sea level of 5 m above current level would be reached? This question is addressed by studying literature, by interviewing experts in widely differing fields, and by holding an expert workshop on this question. Although most experts believe that geomorphology and current engineering skills would enable the country to largely maintain its territorial integrity, there are reasons to assume that this is not likely to happen. Social processes that precede important political decisions – such as the growth of the belief in the reality of sea level rise and the framing of such decisions in a proper political context (policy window) – evolve slowly. A flood disaster would speed up the decision-making process. The shared opinion of the experts surveyed is that eventually part of the Netherlands would be abandoned.     

The East Asian monsoon during MIS 2 expressed in a speleothem δO record from Jintanwan Cave, Hunan, China

Stalagmite J1 from Jintanwan Cave, Hunan, China, provides a precisely dated, decadally resolved δ¹⁸O proxy record of paleoclimatic changes associated with the East Asian monsoon from ∼29.5 to 14.7 ka and from ∼12.9 to 11.0 ka. At the time of the last glacial maximum (LGM), the East Asian summer monsoon weakened and then strengthened in response to changes in Northern Hemisphere insolation. As the ice sheets retreated the East Asian summer monsoon weakened, especially during Heinrich event H1, when atmospheric and oceanic teleconnections transferred the climatic changes around the North Atlantic to the monsoonal regions of Eastern Asia. A depositional hiatus between ∼14.7 and 12.9 ka leaves the deglacial record incomplete, but an abrupt shift in δ¹⁸O values at ∼11.5 ka marks the end of the Younger Dryas and the transition into the Holocene. Comparisons of the J1 record to other Chinese speleothem records indicate synchronous climatic changes throughout monsoonal China. Further comparisons to a speleothem record from western Asia (Socotra Island) and to Greenland ice cores support hemispherical-scale paleoclimatic change. Spectral and wavelet analyses reveal centennial- and decadal-scale periodicities that correspond to solar frequencies and to oscillations in atmospheric and oceanic circulation.